Choices
by flameberg16
Summary: People are defined by the choices they make. This realization forces Naruto to think more about Sasuke's defection and what it means to be a ninja of the leaf. He has three years now...three years to become the best damn ninja in the world. AU after Sasuke retrieval arc. First chapter fixed and reuploaded, don't miss it.
1. Chapter 1: Wake Up

**Choices:**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto. All I own is this notepad ='(**

**People are defined by the choices they make. This realization forces Naruto to think more about Sasuke's defection and what it means to be a ninja of the leaf. AU after Sasuke retrieval arc. **

**Made a couple of fixes in the first few chapters. I've changed quite a bit in the first chapter and fixed a couple of mistakes I made in the next two so please check them out.**

**Extended Summary (mostly an AN so SKIP if you would like to get to the story):**

**Naruto is an interesting character, but at times his typically endearing characteristics such as his willingness to forgive are taken to such extremes that we stop relating with him. Betrayal is something most people don't deal with well. In this case Naruto doesn't ignore Sasuke's betrayal. This change sets up a whole new future as he grows into his legacy.**

**This is an AU. There will be several elements that diverge from the canon and I will do the best to explain them.**

**When I say 'year 5' for example, it means Naruto turns 5 that year. Canon occurs the year Naruto and the Rookies turn 13 hence is year 13. So the Rookie Nine were all born in year zero. I won't repeatedly use it but in spaces, so you guys know the gaps in between.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Wake Up:**

**Year 13, September 14th: **

The forests of Hi no Kuni felt different very different today. Lush forests being a distinctive feature of the land made it that much more noticeable. Typically, they were abuzz with life and energy, holding a light and amiable atmosphere, something that made both Hi no Kuni and Konoha rather unique compared to the other nations and villages, plagued with a certain tenseness that came prior to any conflict.

Today however they were dull, somber with an almost ominous appearance, heightened by the stormy gray skies and rain.

Hatake Kakashi believed it was an accurate reflection of the state his blonde student was currently in. Slumped over in his arms, leaking copious amounts of blood. He could heal quickly, but it wasn't fast enough for a wound this big.

A wound inflicted by _his _signature move.

The crushing realization that Naruto was knocking on death's door due to his actions began to set it. He could feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins, heightening the fearful clenching in his chest. Normally he'd suppress the rush since the jumpiness that came with it wasn't good for his profession but the physical boost it gave him was much needed at this time as he pushed forward with all his speed. But as he ran he couldn't help but drift back to a particular line of thought.

This was all his fault…

He had taught Sasuke the Chidori. He was supposed to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't betray the village. But his biggest failure was that he had failed to protect _all three_ of his students. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke…he had failed them.

He wasn't fit to be a jonin sensei. He had told the Sandaime numerous times but the man had refused to budge. After brutally failing the first two teams he'd been given, he had been reluctant to take on a third. But he conceded for one last time because he had a personal involvement with two of the prospective students. Sasuke was the last of fallen teammate's clan, but more importantly to him, Naruto was the legacy of both said teammate and his late sensei.

At first, they had been slated to fail like past teams. It changed however when Sasuke and Sakura offered their food to Naruto. It filled him with hope that they could become an actual team, that they would succeed where his own had failed.

That was when he made his biggest mistake. Team seven had been a terrible fit. Kakashi should have seen this but he had ignored it in favor of some idealized notion that they would eventually begin to work together all by themselves. He hadn't put the slightest amount of effort into resolving any of their problems despite knowing full well what they were.

Sasuke was too wrapped in his own warped emotions and desires. Naruto lived in perpetual denial to cope with an ignorant and hateful village. Sakura was a sheltered girl who had walked into a dangerous world with a very romanticized view of it.

Gai was right…he was irresponsible. He knew of all these problems and the dangers they would face, yet he had put in the bare minimum required. He had been hypocritical to give Gai heat for teaching Lee how to use the Eight Gates. Sure, it was hugely irresponsible but at least he had known that he wouldn't use it against a comrade.

He had almost known with certainty that Sasuke would end up using it against a comrade. He had a single-mindedness when it came to achieving his vengeance and he couldn't be trusted with such power.

Yet he taught it to him anyway because of his obsession with fixing his past and his damn pride. The whole having to prepare him to face Gaara? It was bull, any rational human being would have pulled Sasuke out of the match. But he had been too concerned about upsetting him and his ego wouldn't allow him to do it. He wanted to show his skills as a teacher. He arrived late in the chunin exam finals because he was having second thoughts, but ended up barely getting there on time.

So many things could have gone differently had he just talked with the Sandaime instead of trying to handle things by himself.

And all this had led to Naruto's current state. He didn't stab him through the chest, but he had been the one responsible for it getting there.

Shaking his thoughts out of his head realizing that his sulking was distracting him, he channeled all the chakra he could muster as he rushed back home. Izumo and Kotetsu did not attempt to stop him as he shot past the village gates full well knowing the mission had gone south. Jumping through the rooftops he got closer and closer to the hospital.

Ignoring the protests of the nurses he rushed up the hospital stairs. He reached Tsunade in a rush. She was annoyed at him initially for being loud in the hospital, but when she recognized the bundle over his shoulder, she felt her heart drop.

Shikamaru felt all signs of relief vanish from him when he saw the state Naruto was in. His knees buckled slightly at the amount of red covering Kakashi's jonin vest. Temari and Shikaku wore grim expressions on their faces realizing what this meant.

Tsunade slowly approached Naruto keeping her face impassive, "Shizune find a clean OR and have three medics ready for surgery stat. You're too drained to do this" she spoke calmly but there was an almost undetectable trembling.

Shizune nodded forcing herself to move. With her current level of exhaustion, the shock of seeing Naruto was almost too much for her. Pale-faced she nodded and pushed through quickly carrying out her orders.

Kakashi placed Naruto on a stretcher that Shikaku pushed towards him giving him a thankful nod. Tsunade was instantly by his side, curbing the blood flow as Kakashi pushed the stretcher with haste. With each step, he felt himself growing heavier and heavier. Years of honing his emotions and discipline kept him from losing focus as he quietly pushed his student into the OR where he was escorted inside by the medic-nins.

Tsunade paused before entering the room and approached Kakashi, "There isn't much time now, but I need you to contact Jiraiya immediately. I don't care how but I want him in Konoha by tomorrow. We'll talk more later"

"Hai Hokage-sama" Kakashi bowed and departed in a shunshin.

All that kept him from losing it was faith. Faith that his student wouldn't go back on his promise and die before he became Hokage. Because as it had always been with him, he could do nothing to help when it mattered the most.

* * *

**September 15th:**

With the start of the new day, all the tension and worry from the mission had mostly evaporated. The Sasuke retrieval squad had failed their mission but all of them were safe.

Chouji and Neji had been the worst of both being in critical condition.

The Akimichi food pills boosted the user's metabolism exponentially to allow them to convert their fat into chakra. But this placed an immense strain on both the body and the chakra network. Thankfully foresight of the dangers of these pills meant that the Akimichi clan had long since begun producing a drug that helped minimize the damage. Chouji would take several months to regain his strength and weight but he would be fine.

It had been Neji who was in great danger. Not only had he lost a lot of blood but his lung had been punctured and he had narrowly avoided his spine from being severed. It had taken a lot of effort but they had managed to stabilize him. He too was going to be alright.

Both of them surviving was indeed a proud moment for the medical corps. They were both still unconscious, a testament to how difficult their battles had been.

Kiba had received a few superficial wounds but the worst part for him was how badly Akamaru had suffered. Being just a puppy, he was nowhere close to as sturdy as a fully grown ninken. They were supposed to be partners but Akamaru had nearly died. To an Inuzuka, nothing hurt more than losing their ninken. They often became so overwhelmed with grief if their partners died that they would end their own lives. Kiba had wept for hours when his sister confirmed Akamaru would be fine. It was why she couldn't find it in herself to punch him for allowing his ninken partner to be injured in the first place.

Shikamaru had suffered the least amount of injuries and this was real slap in the face for him. He had been responsible for the squad's lives but he had come out with nothing more than a broken finger and chakra exhaustion, while his best friend had nearly died. He had been almost entirely resolved to quit as a shinobi but words of encouragement from his father and taunting from Temari stopped him from stepping away from shinobi life. With his resolve renewed, he vowed to give his best for the sake of his village and comrades.

This left only the final member of the retrieval team.

Expectantly he had recovered from all his injuries and was already awake. Physically, it was almost as though he had never left the village. But considering the fact that he refused to allow anybody into his room and only spoke to Shizune or Tsunade spoke an entirely different tale.

It was very easy to assume that Naruto didn't worry about too many things in the world. But few realized that he was far more sensitive than people realized. He never had a family and had been alone his entire life – so when he considered somebody to be like a brother to him, he meant it.

His mind was just so clouded with questions on what exactly did Uchiha Sasuke mean to him?

For a long time, he was his rival, he had come to consider him a friend and the closest thing he had to an actual brother. They had a bond, there was no denying it. That empathy for each other's plight – their mutual pain and loneliness had let them understand and appreciate each other. And Naruto cared a lot for Sasuke, so much so that his acknowledgment used to mean more to him than his own health.

But it had changed now…it was different. There were a lot of feelings running through his head but he couldn't quite put his finger on any of them.

Well to start, he had never felt as much overwhelming fury at a person as he did now.

He had risked the lives of his comrades and had run to the person who had killed the Sandaime Hokage, the first person to ever acknowledge or care for Naruto. All to get power for his selfish vengeance upon his elder brother. It proved that nothing else mattered to Sasuke.

Not the village.

Not their team.

And worst of all, not even the bond that had meant so much to him. To him, there was no bigger insult than that.

He had seen the hatred within Sasuke years ago. In the eyes of a recently orphaned eight-year-old, he had seen one stronger than anything the villagers could muster against him. It grew stronger every day and Naruto had known it. He had seen it every single day for all these years. Then why did he ignore it?

It was empathy. Sasuke never understood it because he lumped it in with pity, and to be honest anybody in their position hated pity. But Naruto understood Sasuke's pain even from then, he understood how loneliness made you want to hate the world, after all, he experienced it every day.

But that was what confused him. Did he empathize with him because he didn't want Sasuke to not feel the same loneliness or was it a way for himself to escape his own?

Maybe a bit of both…he had been the only person Naruto felt he could relate to. That was why he had invested so much in what honestly felt like a pretty one-sided friendship. But that didn't mean it hurt any less when he betrayed them. All those nasty things he said? It stung and it made him feel like absolute crap. Because it exposed every little insecurity that he had worked so hard to suppress. All surfacing and poking at him.

_How can you become Hokage when you can't save a friend?  
What are you without Kyuubi's power?  
Your 'best friend' tried to kill you! How can you trust any of your other 'friends'?_

Naruto grabbed his head with his hands as he began to feel his thoughts overwhelming him.

A sudden noise and movement broke him out from his thoughts, for which he was thankful.

"Kakashi-sensei…" he said in stiff recognition.

He knew he was probably the last person Naruto wanted to talk to but somebody was going to have to get him to talk about what happened. Letting him sit alone in his room and stew in what happened was not healthy by any means, he knew that from experience.

Taking a deep breath he walked in, "Hey Naruto. Hope I'm not interrupting" he replied calmly. Seeing him up sent a wave of relief through the jonin.

He stared at him blankly for several seconds as though unaware of how to react towards him before he shook his head, "No sensei, I have something I want to ask you"

Kakashi nodded to him in affirmation. Naruto took a deep breath articulating his thoughts, "Sensei, when I caught up to Sasuke in the Valley of the End, there were a lot of things that we both said and that happened in our fight. We…"

Naruto proceeded to slowly explain every single detail of the fight to Kakashi. Naruto could feel his sensei's anguish hearing the vicious encounter between his two students. He could understand just how much it had hurt Kakashi, to see two kids who he had been responsible for, ones who he guided, protected and cared for, ended up fighting to the death like that. Seeing his sensei's somber expression, Naruto couldn't help but begin to feel a bit more anger towards the Uchiha for hurting another person important to him.

"I see…" Kakashi said sadly at the end of Naruto's explanation.

"Kakashi-sensei…is it wrong to want to stay away from Sasuke? Is that abandoning my comrade?" he asked him quietly refusing to look him in the eye.

Kakashi closed his eyes, "That is something you must ask yourself Naruto. You saw the result of attempting to retrieve him. Shinobi missions rarely go as smoothly as yours did regardless if it was a failure or success. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, most if not all of you should have died" he explained. Naruto looked down sadly. "Sasuke meant a lot to you Naruto but stop to think of it this way. Sasuke will resist any attempts to retrieve him and anything to do with him would involve Orochimaru. This spells certain death for many who will be involved. The decision to chase Sasuke or not…it is the type of decision a Hokage would have to make"

Naruto looked up towards his sensei, "Is it really this difficult?" he asked him.

Kakashi nodded, "It's why the Hokage is not only the most powerful ninja in the village, but the strongest and wisest as well".

Naruto stared at the wall, "I see…" he muttered before looking up again a bit of anger on his face, "I have some more things to ask you…why didn't you or Sakura tell me about the Curse Mark?"

Kakashi sighed wearily, "For bad reasons…I wanted to keep it under wraps and at the time I didn't think you'd handle the news well"

"What kind of excuse is that?! You don't think I had a right to know what was happening with my friend?!"

"You had every right. I didn't trust you when you had done everything to earn it. You always obeyed me, you always had the team's back and you always did what was the best for everybody else. You took my first lesson to heart and applied it even better than I could. I never acknowledged it, but you were always my best student"

Naruto didn't like hearing this because he scowled at him, "I'm your best student?" he asked incredulously, "When you first took Sasuke away to train, I was mad. I thought you didn't believe in me at all. I let it go because I realized Gaara was dangerous and because I figured something weird was going on with him and it had to do with Orochimaru…but then you didn't show up for my match. I trained so hard that month because I wanted to make you proud. You never acknowledged that I beat Neji, that I beat Gaara, that I got baa-chan to return to the village. No 'well done Naruto' or 'I'm proud of you'. The only time you ever say it is when I pull the team out of a sticky situation like with Zabuza. Then when I learned the Rasengan you said I wasn't ready when you taught Sasuke the Chidori…did you ever believe in me at all?"

"I know it may not seem like it, but I do believe in you one hundred percent. I…I held an unfair expectation of you. To act in a certain way. To walk, talk, eat, train in a certain way. I saw you for what you could be and not for what you are right now. Not for what held you back and made it harder for you along the way. You have your faults – you lack discipline, your attitude makes it hard to point out mistakes and you're obsessed with having an image of grandeur among people. I let it cloud the fact that you have incredible talent. With the most basic of abilities, you've pulled off some amazing feats. Naruto you're bound to become a great ninja and I know with a little discipline, focus and dedication that I'm looking at the person who will surpass all four of the Hokages – you"

This Naruto did not expect. He had spent several months thinking that his sensei considered him a disappointment. His actions certainly seemed to suggest so – never helping him train, never acknowledging his improvement or hard work. But now…

He wasn't lying. Despite his actions, he could tell that deep down Kakashi did really believe in him to this extent. It was a confusing time for Naruto but if there was anything that could guarantee an emotional response from him, it was to express your belief in his abilities. His sensei really did believe in him!

He furiously wiped the tears from his eyes, "Thank you Kakashi-sensei…I promise I'll work hard from now on and become the best ninja I can be"

Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair, "I'll hold you to that"

"Sensei before you go, I have a small favor to ask. Can you get me some books, so I can start training?" he asked him.

Kakashi gave him an odd look, "Books? I thought you hated reading"

Naruto blushed in embarrassment, "I do…but you keep telling us that ninja has to be smart. That's my weakest area so I should work on it, right?"

Kakashi couldn't help but smile, "Looks like you're really taking this to heart…good" he replied, "I'll get you some books and scrolls that'll help you catch up" he said before leaving the room.

As he walked outside, he was met with Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"How is he?" she asked gently.

"He's fine Tsunade-sama. He's bounced back, and he's grown up a bit. He asked me to get him some books to help him get started on training" he replied.

Tsunade heaved a sigh in relief, "Thank god. I couldn't stand seeing him like that" she muttered.

Jiraiya too relaxed slightly, "That's good…Kakashi I have a favor to ask of you"

"How can I help Jiraiya-sama?"

"As I told you before I'm planning on taking on a three-year training trip. I intended to depart in about four to six weeks. Until then could you help him get all his basics and skills to at least high genin level?" he asked him.

Kakashi nodded, "Hai. It's the least I can do after neglecting his training" he said with a hint of bitterness before shunshining away.

"We need to talk…it's about Naruto's seal" Tsunade said turning to her teammate.

"Your office?" he asked to which Tsunade nodded as both reappeared within Hokage Tower. Tsunade pulled out a sake bottle and poured the customary cups. Handing one to her teammate they both downed it.

"You're pretty worried. What did you find?"

She shook her head, "It's not good…you know he used the Kyuubi's chakra against Sasuke. I ran routine checks on him and it seems that every time he uses more of the Kyuubi's chakra than he can control, he loses a significant portion of his lifespan"

"…how significant are we talking?"

"He used enough for Kakashi to sense it some fifty miles away. The problem is that when he's not in control the chakra attacks his own body, but it regenerates it just as fast. Given just how fast he can regenerate by himself, at this point I can say he's lost at least three to four months of his life. The more out of control the chakra he uses the more significant the damage is"

"So, if I were to train him for three years to use that chakra, there's a good chance he won't make it past thirty…this puts a major damper on my plans"

"Maybe it's for the best Jiraiya. It gives him a reason to depend on his own strength"

"I understand the sentiment, but we can't afford to be so short-sighted. Three years is not even close to enough time to get him ready to face the Akatsuki"

"He's not alone. He doesn't have to beat them himself"

"But still, he has ways to go. He's not the brightest-"

Tsunade glared, "Stop right there, you hypocrite. He mastered the Rasengan in a week, the Kage Bunshin in one night and he's even summoned Gamabunta. Where exactly did you get the idea that he's not bright? From where I'm standing, it looks like he's pretty damn sharp"

"Come on, you've seen the way he acts"

"That's not being stupid Jiraiya, that's called being a child. For heaven's sake, _you_ of all people should know the difference. He's not a genius like his father sure, but that doesn't mean he's stupid. He's far sharper than the average ninja. Aren't you the one always saying training a genius is no fun?"

"There's a difference here. I want him to survive Tsunade. If it means shaving twenty years of his life, then I don't mind because it's better than being dead within the next five"

"Enough Jiraiya! Stop lying to yourself! This isn't about Naruto's lack of ability at all! You think that unless Naruto uses the Kyuubi's chakra it's a disgrace to Minato's sacrifice, don't you?!"

Jiraiya looked away bitterly, "He could have done so much more Tsunade. It should have been me or sensei to do the sealing, but Minato believed the potential Naruto held was greater than his own. And he was the Kiroii Senko, first SS-ranked shinobi ever, his reputation matching that of your grandfather and Uchiha Madara. He wasn't even in his damn prime and he had surpassed all of us. Yet he saw more potential in one child, something I agree with completely. But he doesn't have the time to mature. We have to speed it up and the Kyuubi is the best way to get him strong fast enough to be ready for the Akatsuki"

"But what good is all that raw power if it comes at such a steep price? And I know you're not stupid Jiraiya. The Akatsuki are after jinchuriki, ones who can control a significant amount of their bijuu's power. Do you really think they don't have methods to counter that? There are methods outside the Mokuton that can overcome a jinchuriki. I don't want that to happen and Naruto to be helpless without it. If he's at least somewhat strong then taking the risk of having a small boost is worth it don't you think? Because ten times ten and fifty times two are both a hundred"

Jiraiya stared at his teammate in surprise, "When the hell did you get all wise? That's supposed to be my thing, you know the great Toad Sage and all"

"Please I'll have white hair before you become wise" Tsunade snorted, "Besides I'm the Hokage remember. Have to keep all my minions under my control"

"Minions?" Jiraiya asked amused, "I'm pretty sure that's how a tyranny gets started"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Whatever…looks point is Jiraiya, we both agree the kid's got a lot of potential even without the Kyuubi. It's a pretty sweet trump card having all that extra chakra, but it's no point if it's your only card. There's more than just direct combat to deal with the Akatsuki. Whatever it is it will be difficult, but I think that should be penance for ignoring him for over a decade"

Jiraiya winced lightly, "Glad to see your skills are as sharp as ever" he grumbled, "Fine I'll figure out something hime. I'll have a talk with Ma and Pa about his training then"

* * *

**Back in Naruto's room:**

As soon as Kakashi exited, Naruto turned his head to the window, "You can come in" Naruto said calmly.

A swirl of sand appeared in front of the bed, before it condensed to form Gaara. Their eyes met instantly, and Naruto noted a major difference since the last time they met.

The hate filled green eyes were gone. Now they were confused. Lost. Drifting without a purpose. Eyes that were all too familiar. It was the one he'd seen in himself when he was young and lost, and more recently Haku's right before he'd asked to be killed.

"I was told the eyes are a window to the soul…" Gaara began in a calm voice, "As you've probably realized I have lost my purpose since you showed me the light…Uzumaki Naruto-"

"Just Naruto, Gaara" Naruto interrupted with a smile, "We're friends after all"

"F-friends…" Gaara muttered. It was such an alien concept to him. He had lived so many years in a haze of hate and loneliness, "What makes us friends?"

"I…I don't know" Naruto replied, "I just want us to be…"

"I want that too…" Gaara spoke quietly, "When Yashamaru betrayed me…I gave up hope on anybody every understanding me or my pain. I wanted so desperately to inflict that very pain and loneliness on others so they would understand…but you know both my pain and my loneliness. You know what it is like to hold a bijuu within yourself. You are a jinchuriki just like me"

"…the Kyuubi no Yoko couldn't be killed even by the Yondaime. I don't know why he did it nor do I like thinking about it, but it was sealed inside of me when I was born"

"Which is why I want to understand the path you took. What kept you from falling under its influence? What made you who you are? What is your purpose in life?"

Naruto smiled wryly and looked out the window, "You know…you're one of the few people who wasn't fooled by my whole 'I'll be the greatest Hokage' routine. Since I became a ninja I kept telling myself my purpose is to protect the village but…"

"I've seen the glares…any desire you have to protect them would not be genuine"

Naruto shook his head, "I got kicked out of the orphanage when I was four. I didn't understand a lot of things but everywhere I went, anybody I met they – they all seemed to hate me. Sandaime jii-chan was kind to me, he'd spend time with me and make me feel better. But…he'd just fill me with all these lies. That they were suffering, that they didn't know any better. No matter what they did to me or how they made me feel, they were never wrong in his eyes"

Gaara nodded somberly. He really did know what it felt like.

"But…he was the only person I had. I…I didn't want to disappoint him, I wanted to be like him. Everybody saw him as this kind, benevolent leader and I wanted to be like him. So I just rejected my reality…I acted like everything he told me was the truth, that the world was fair and just that one day everything would be alright because I proved myself to them"

"…but not everything you said to me was based of this. What you said to me after our battle was your own belief"

"Because what I told you really was my belief. Everything I do is motivated by the fact that I want to keep those important to me safe. That will never change but what will change is how I define those that are important to me and those that aren't"

"But you acted so fixated on being Hokage. From what you're telling me that desire was…"

"It was something to give me hope…everything only seems lost when you lose hope. It's the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. It may never be there but as long as you can see it you'll keep running towards it"

"Hope…" Gaara muttered, "What if I were to…do what you did?" he asked him uncertainly.

Naruto met Gaara's eyes, "I don't know…I wish could be more help but it'll help if you think of what's best for those you care about…you found them didn't you? You found people who you care for?"

"I always had them…" Gaara replied, "I feel this strange compulsion towards them now. I want to make sure that harm doesn't come their way, that they don't have to suffer or endure any pain"

"That's what it means to care for somebody" Naruto explained, "Now you have the biggest motivator in the world"

When the reopened, Naruto saw a familiar light in them. Filled with raw determination and a fire. They were the same eyes he saw in the mirror every day.

"Then I have decided. I shall walk the path of light that you have shown me. From this day I will strive to protect my village with all my power and I shall become…the Kazekage"

Naruto's eyes widened before a huge smile appeared on his face, "That's great Gaara! I know you can do it! Maybe, just maybe one day when you become Kazekage and I become Hokage, we'll share a drink together" he exclaimed excited.

Gaara was taken aback by the sheer belief in his words. This time he felt his mouth moving into a smile, "Then I will not let you down…thank you for everything Naruto…my friend" he said as he disappeared with a sand shunshin.

Naruto smiled gently as he felt some weight lift from his chest. He was glad that Gaara now saw the light. He just knew it in his heart that Gaara would succeed. He would become Kazekage.

But what mattered more to Naruto was that it meant he wasn't a failure. Maybe he couldn't have saved Sasuke, but he had shown the light to at least one person.

And that was good enough for him at the moment.

Though poor Kankuro and Temari would have nightmares for years from seeing Gaara's smiling visage. Somebody really needed to teach the boy how to smile normally.

**September 19th:**

Tsunade groaned when she heard a knock on her office in the hospital. Couldn't she get five damn minutes alone?! Sarutobi-sensei was literally a saint in her eyes now.

"Come in" she said.

The door slowly opened revealing Shizune who slowly walked in. Tsunade let out a deep breath, "Why did I ever accept this job?" she muttered to herself knowing it was something important, "What's the matter Shizune?" Tsunade asked her apprentice.

"Tsunade-sama about Naruto-kun…he's had his head buried in his books for the last two days and he's barely slept. He won't listen to anybody and sedatives don't work for more than an hour" she said concerned.

Tsunade rubbed her head slightly, "God I need some sake right now. Come on we're going to visit the brat right now" she said standing up.

The two women walked in silence until she reached Naruto's hospital room. Pushing it open, Naruto just looked up slightly, "Hey Tsunade-baachan, Shizune-neechan" he greeted.

Tsunade quickly noted that Naruto had read eight of the ten books that Kakashi had given him. She signaled Shizune to give her a few minutes alone with him. Approaching his bed, "What are you doing?" Tsunade asked putting her hands on her hips indicating she was not pleased.

"I'm…I have a lot to catch up and I can't waste time" he replied hesitantly.

Tsunade slowly took a seat on the bed. She placed her hand on his and slowly made him close the book as she spoke gently, "Training and getting strong is something that takes time. Years in fact. It isn't worth losing sleep over it. Work hard, train hard but resting it just as important"

"But-"

"No buts" Tsunade cut off sternly, "If you won't go to sleep I can arrange for it" she said cracking her knuckles.

Naruto paled slightly, "Ok, ok…I won't. I promise" he said hurriedly, "I'll rest now baachan don't worry" he said with a fake grin and spoke quickly.

There it was again. That damned look of his. She'd spent enough time to know his facial expression and what he was feeling. It was evident he was upset about something but felt it was silly, so he didn't want to bother anybody.

It was one of the things she detested most.

"Naruto…"Tsunade spoke softly, "I know something's bothering you. What is it?"

Naruto looked down, "I'm just being silly baa-chan. Don't worry" he said with a frown.

His found a gentle hand on his cheek turning his face up, "Nothing you feel is ever silly to me. Whatever it is, you can trust me no matter what" she said soothingly.

His eyes widened before he looked away sadly, "Sasuke said so many things during our fight. I always thought of him as a brother but obviously that bond meant nothing to him. It hurts so bad…" he sniffled slightly as he began to tear up, "And now he means nothing to me so why the hell am I still so upset? This is so stupid"

Tsunade pulled him forward and hugged him tightly, "That's not silly Naruto. Being betrayed is the worst way to be hurt, believe me I know. You can shed all the tears you want with me because in my eyes you'll always be just as strong"

Naruto immediately buried his face in her shoulder and began to sob loudly. "It'll be alright. You still have us" she said softly stroking his hair. Naruto slowly calmed down. He kept his head buried for a few minutes. He slowly pulled back, his face calmer now.

"Thank you baa-chan" he whispered.

"You're welcome. Don't hold in anything like this. Talk, cry, yell, act stupid, I don't care. I can never think less of a future Hokage can I?" she asked with a smirk.

Naruto couldn't help but smile, "Of course not. I'm just that awesome dattebayo!"

Tsunade grinned and ruffled his hair, "That's the spirit! Now I better not hear you're skipping sleep or food. Your health is more important that gaining strength ok?"

Naruto nodded, "Sorry for worrying you. I didn't mean to give you high blood pressure, but that could just be your age" he teased with a cheeky grin

Tsunade mock glared at him but just couldn't stay angry. Damn her for having a soft spot for this kid!

Tsunade bopped his head lightly, "Learn to respect your elders. Now get some rest, ok?" she said.

Naruto nodded as his eyes shut instantly, a blissful expression taking over his face. Slowly letting go, she pulled the sheet over him. _'He looks so calm. If only he were like this more often' _she thought. She gently kissed his forehead and walked out with a smile.

**September 20th: **

Naruto's head jerked slightly when he heard a knock on the door, "Who is it?". Slowly the door slid open. Seeing a familiar mop of pink hair and concerned green eyes, he took a sharp breath.

_"Naruto…this is a once in a lifetime request…please bring Sasuke-kun back"_

He ignored the slow stabbing pain in his chest seeing Sakura. It was difficult doing so. The request kept repeating over and over in his head.

"Naruto? Can I come in?" Sakura asked gently.

Naruto nodded, "Sure Sakura…come on in"

Sakura flinched slightly not hearing the typical affection or suffix in how he addressed her, "How are you Sakura?" he asked.

"I'm ok Naruto. I…I became Tsunade-sama's apprentice recently and I've been learning medical ninjutsu from her"

For a second he didn't say anything, which worried her. He seemed to be mulling over what this meant.

Which freaked her out a lot!

The Naruto she knew was never one to stop and think. He was impulsive and wore his heart on a sleeve. She had expected him to get all excited and tell her how awesome she was or to at least have some emotional reaction.

"Well…congrats Sakura" he said in what sounded sincere, "So I guess our team has been split among each of the Sannin now"

She could hear the bitterness in his voice and it made her feel guilty. Looking downwards she began to speak, "Naruto…about that promise with Sasuke-kun. I-"

She couldn't complete her sentence. Because she could swear the room's temperature had fallen several degrees.

"Don't call him that Sakura. He doesn't deserve your affection" he said coldly.

Bewildered was an understatement. Sakura's eyes were practically bulging as she stared at her teammate, "Na-Naruto but-"

He cut her off again not with coldness but a firm voice, "Sakura, forget about Sasuke"

Sakura's eyes widened in shock at hearing this. She never would have thought Naruto of all people would say such a thing about Sasuke of all people. But as always, she allowed her temper to dictate her reaction with him. Her fists clenched, her teeth bared, "How can you say that Naruto?! He's out teammate and friend?! How can you abandon him like that?!" she yelled furiously.

Her anger subsided when Naruto began to glare. His normally bright, energetic eyes were ice cold reminding her off the chilliness of the room. This expression should have been completely out of place of Naruto but it suit him perfectly. She couldn't recognize the goofball she had come to know.

He moved slowly as he got out of the bed but as he got closer to her she began to backpedal furiously. She froze in place when he pulled back his bandages revealing an enormous scar on his shoulder.

"Sakura he…he broke my neck and stabbed me with the Chidori twice! He smiled when he did it! The Sasuke we knew would never do that…he may be gone or may not have existed to begin with. His eyes…" Naruto shivered lightly, "They were filled with hatred. So much hated. He reminded me of Gaara during the chunin exams but…he was even worse"

Sakura paled visibly, "N-n-no, it can't be" she said in shock. Her Sasuke-kun acting like Gaara and trying to kill Naruto, their teammate and his best friend?! Impossible!

Naruto sighed, "I'm sorry but it's the truth Sakura"

She felt herself becoming desperate from Naruto's assertion. She couldn't sense an inch of deceit in his words which only pushed her to further into her panic, "Stop it Naruto! Sasuke-kun isn't like that! He-He has risked his life for us!" she shouted trying her best to deny Naruto's claims.

Naruto looked up at her with faint disgust, "So that makes it okay for him to betray the village?! To break our sensei's words, the way of our village! To spit on the legacy of Konoha by going to its worst traitor who killed Sandaime-jii-chan, risking the lives of our comrades and trying to kill me after calling me his best friend! Would you be saying the same thing to Sasuke if I tried to kill him?!" he asked his voice getting shakier and shakier as his anger and sorrow built up.

Sakura wanted to say no but she felt a chill in her spine when she realized what her answer would have been. It had been because she had felt that way once, a long time before and to her shame still felt to a degree now.

She would have wanted Naruto dead if he hurt even a hair on Sasuke.

It shook her, that even after all the time and experiences they shared together as team seven, that she could have such malicious intent towards somebody she considered a friend. She couldn't move an inch as the weight of that realization hit her.

_'What the hell is wrong with me?' _she asked herself.

Her eyes quivered as she felt tears begin to appear, "So…so all the time we spent as team seven meant nothing? Were we never really a team at all?"

Naruto paused trying to understand his own feelings. They were muddled with doubt and uncertainty. He found himself asking for the first time

What did team seven really mean to him?

…

He looked up at Sakura, but she refused to make eye contact, "Sakura…tell me something…every time you hit me…every time you called me stupid and acted like I was a nuisance. Why? Even after the chunin exams you still treated me the same way" he asked his breathing getting ragged, "Why do you act like you care about me and then turn around and treat me like dirt? Why Sakura?! I thought we were friends!"

Sakura hung her head unable to respond. Despite knowing that she treated Naruto worse than he deserved, she had always persisted. Much to her shame it was because it made her feel good to a degree. Hindsight really was a bitch.

Naruto looked away sadly, "Sakura…I want to think that we were like a family but…every good memory I have I can remember ten of you and Sasuke putting me down. I…I ignored it before, I ignored just how much both of you hated me"

Sakura shook her head feverently, "No! I don't hate you Naruto! Please don't say that!"

"What else should I think?" he asked her, "You say you don't hate me but then you yell at me for bad mouthing Sasuke or call me stupid because I do something wrong"

The desperation began to build up again at the thought that Naruto would leave her too, "But you've never once said anything! How should I have known that it hurt you?!"

"You tell me to stay away from you, but you still talk to me when you need something! Either to lecture me, call me names or just to rant when you're upset! Forgive me for being a little confused" he finished sarcastically.

Sakura wanted to refute his claim, but she knew it was true…Naruto was annoying and persistent, but she preferred picking on him much more than keeping away from him. He was an easy target for her and it really helped her self esteem issues. The fact that Naruto never protested or retaliated encouraged her to do so.

She felt a wave of guilt pass through her, "Naruto…"

To her surprise Naruto suddenly smiled, "Team seven may be filled with bad memories but…despite everything…I still consider team seven my family. I don't hate Sasuke, and neither do I hate you. But right now, I'm angry at both of you because you both have broken my trust"

"So, this is the end…" Sakura said sadly.

"I didn't say that either" Naruto countered with a shake of his head, "You're my teammate and my friend…I'm willing to give you a chance but you'll have to work for it".

"Naruto…thank you" she said before she slowly smiled, "But…what about Sasuke?" she asked cautiously, "Are you really not friends anymore?"

Naruto turned to look out the window, "It's…complicated. I talked to Kakashi-sensei and I…I don't hate Sasuke. But knowing that if anybody else had been in my position, if anybody else had been hit by the Chidori…they'd be in the morgue right now. You may not like this Sakura but Sasuke…he means nothing for me now…if I keep chasing him, I'll be stuck and I'll never get anywhere in life" he admitted causing Sakura's head to fall, "I really don't know what he means to you Sakura. Maybe he's important enough to you that you want him back…I won't try to stop you from doing that but if you do intend to do it…I'll do everything I can to help you, but only if you promise me something"

"Anything" she replied her eyes steeling themselves with a renewed resolve.

"Train hard under baachan. She's a great ninja and there's a lot you can learn from her. Train hard enough so you can protect yourself"

"I…I promise Naruto" she said softly, "I'll catch up to the both of you that's a promise"

"I'll be waiting" Naruto smirked as she walked out the door.

As soon as she exited a voice spoke from the window, "Glad to see you got some sense knocked into you"

Naruto turned, "Ero-…" he stopped himself shaking his head, "Sorry I meant Jiraiya-sensei"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow to this, "Not that I don't appreciate it, but why?" he asked.

"I've been acting like a snot-nosed brat. You may be a pervert, but it doesn't take away the fact that you're a legendary ninja who took time away to teach some stuck-up brat" Naruto bowed slightly, "Sorry Jiraiya-sensei. I promise I'll show the respect you deserve. I'll train hard and learn anything you have to teach me"

Jiraiya considered his student slightly before smiling and rubbing his head, "Easy there, kid. I appreciate the sentiment" he stated with a chuckle, "I came to see how you were doing and to tell you a few things" he took a seat on the chair near the bed, "I'm glad you aren't chasing after the Uchiha brat. It would have lead you nowhere"

"Is that what happened with you?" Naruto asked curiously remembering the story of the three Sannin.

Jiraiya nodded sadly, "It was. I chased Orochimaru's shadow for many years…too many years. Years that were wasted by an endless ghost hunt. I acted like a child and refused to look at the facts. He had made his choices and nothing I could do would deter him. I sacrificed far too much and my biggest regret is not growing up sooner to realize what a waste it was…they say a student must always aim to surpass the master. You've already set on that path which is good and all, but we have to speed it up"

"Why is that?"

"You remember when Itachi and Kisame came after you?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah they were with some type of group. Wasn't it called Akatsuki?"

"That's it. See they are after the bijuu sealed within you for unknown reasons. This only means that they will come after you for the Kyubi eventually"

Naruto's eyes widened, "So Itachi and Kisame will come after me again? Just how strong are they?"

Jiraiya couldn't help but smile at the sudden maturity he was starting to show. Normally he'd be yelling childishly how he'd kick their asses and train super hard. But he was using his head now – a great sign, "They are powerful…both of them are individually are stronger than Orochimaru. To put that into context, Orochimaru is somebody that even Kakashi would stand no chance of beating"

Naruto shut his eyes recalling his encounter with the snake Sannin in the Forest of Death. He had tossed him around even with the Kyubi's power with no effort at all. And if two people were higher than that were after him…

Then he considered the gap between himself and his own sensei. The very notion of somebody as powerful as Kakashi being that outclassed was jarring.

"I can't fight people like them…not yet at least" Naruto admitted.

"And it's good you realize that. We can't know for sure what they want with the bijuu but it can't be for anything good. They will come for you eventually and they will do anything to get it…but it isn't just them you need to worry about. God! There's so much I need to teach you about. You need to be ready because this is one cutthroat world and Konoha is at far more risk that anyone realizes…you need to be prepared for what is coming. I want you to travel with me for three years so I can teach you and show you the world.

Naruto clenched his fists lightly, "I don't want to lose my comrades…we all should have died on that last mission. I don't ever want to feel like that again" he looked up with resolve in his eyes, "When do we leave?"

"In about four to six weeks…Kakashi will be overlooking you training in that time if that's ok with you?"

"Of course, it is. He is my jonin sensei after all"

"You aren't mad that he left you train the Uchiha alone for an entire month"

"Maybe a bit…but we made our peace. I know that deep down he meant well and I just want to move forward…he's still my sensei despite everything" Naruto replied.

Jiraiya nodded, "That's good…you've done well kid. I'm proud of you"

Naruto smiled, "Thank you, sensei"

**September 21st:**

"Yo" Kakashi said as he appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei" Naruto greeted.

"…no yelling I was late?" Kakashi asked rather perplexed.

"Would it make a difference?" he shrugged.

"No, not really. It was entertaining while it lasted" Kakashi sighed, "But onto business right now. We don't have much time and we need to brush up on all your basics as quickly as possible" Kakashi said as he pulled out several books and scrolls

Naruto gulped, "That's quite a bit"

"Well you did get started on it so might as well finish it off. This is everything you missed in the Academy. But in the interest of saving time, I'm going to give you a training aid that only you will be able to use"

"What is it?" Naruto asked interested.

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Why, your favorite justu of course"

**September 26th:**

"Ready Naruto?" Iruka asked, "You have an hour your time begins now"

The chunin watched as his former student sat at his desk attempting the Academy written exam again. Kakashi wanted to get an accurate measure of how well Naruto picked up while studying. It was rather odd that the jonin insisted on him using a test he had made rather than the standard one, but Iruka was rather used to the various eccentricities among ninja. He still expected Naruto to show just a slight improvement from his Academy days.

Instead he found himself surprised at seeing a calm and collected Naruto slowly writing down answers while taking the occasional pause to think. The very same Naruto who would be pulling his hair out and scribbling whatever came to mind at the last second.

He really had grown.

The hour passed quickly and Iruka collected the paper from Naruto. He corrected the questions quickly without realizing there was rather large difference between Kakashi's test and the Academy's.

At the end he put down his pen, "Well, what do you think Naruto?"

He scratched the back of his head, "Ehh, it wasn't as bad as it used to be. I still have a lot of gaps, but I'll keep studying so they don't stay"

Iruka smiled, "It's almost hard to believe that you're the same brat who used to pull pranks all the time. Congrats Naruto you got an 84%" he said.

Naruto gaped slightly, "Ok I was not expecting _that_ high" he said.

"This is remarkable Naruto. After just a week you've got more than five times your average score"

_'More like after a month' _Naruto thought remembering himself using three clones to increase his pace fourfold. His math wasn't very good, but he was sure that was how long he'd studied.

"That certainly was a surprise" Kakashi stated bored by the door, _'Especially given this was genin level material not Academy. I wonder if Iruka realized yet'_ he thought.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei. I actually passed the test" Naruto grinned.

"Good for you. Thanks again Iruka-sensei" Kakashi stated.

"It's no problem at all Kakashi-sensei. Naruto, if you ever need any help at all my door is open"

"I know. Thanks, Iruka-sensei. See you"

"Take care Naruto"

Naruto turned to Kakashi, "What's next Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm…well we've worked on your theory for the past week and it's acceptable for a genin by my standards. We've got a few more weeks, so we'll work on ironing out all your practical skills. We'll begin with you taijutsu katas since that takes the most time"

"Can I use Kage Bunshins to help me train with taijutsu?"

"We've been over this, clones don't help with physical training. And I've warned you about turning them into a crutch. You'll become less observant if you rely on accumulated memories to improve"

Naruto hung his head slightly, "Sorry sensei. It's just I get frustrated sometimes. It's annoying because I struggle to learn simple stuff"

"…apparently you haven't noticed"

"Noticed what?"

"You may take your time with the more basic skills but you have a great knack for picking up advanced skills. It took me a year to learn the Rasengan with personal help from Minato-sensei, the man who created it. Not just that, it took me two days to learn the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and several weeks to master it"

Naruto's eyes widened, "So…I'm not really stupid?"

"Childish perhaps, but no you're not stupid. Don't believe that even for a second"

Naruto smiled brightly at that, "If that's the case then I'll bear these stupid things. Let's get started sensei!"

"Easy. You won't learn anything in such a rush. Let's go over your katas and I'll help you where I have like I usually do"

Naruto nodded and began to slowly perform his katas. Kakashi would occasionally nudge and prod his motions to make them smoother.

Watching him now he couldn't help but contrast just how atrocious his technique had been when he first became a genin. He had power and speed but his form so severely lacking that he was effectively a flailing dummy. He worked unwaveringly hard to get this far. His taijutsu was still far from perfect but the level of improvement was a far cry than what could be expected of a 'deadlast'.

In fact, he was improving at a rate far higher than the average. It still irritated him that Naruto's education was neglected in his Academy days. He never liked that Iruka fellow for that reason. Sure, he was nice to Naruto, but buying a bowl of ramen was meaningless if you were sending an underprepared kid out into the field. It was practically a death sentence.

He wasn't any better. He had done the bare minimum and rationalized it as Naruto having a poor attitude for a ninja. How the hell was he supposed to know the right attitude when nobody had raised or trained him? When you had to raise yourself and learn anything without anybody's help there were bound to be gaps in their knowledge and behavior.

Especially when you lived in a village that loathed you.

It was fair to expect Sakura and Sasuke to take the initiative and ask him for help, but Naruto was so obviously emotionally stunted. The Sandaime had been more than happy to keep him that way because it kept him docile and loyal to him. But Tsunade had been the first one to point out how dangerous and hypocritical it was given how many unfair expectations they were laying on him over a legacy he wasn't even aware he possessed.

What if somebody from Kumo promised the boy they'd tell him about his parents? Even if they didn't know anything, it was far to easy to give him false promises because he was molded to act naïve and impulsively. The disaster of Kumo having three jinchuriki was something that made even him feel nauseous.

He always imagined how differently Naruto would have been raised if Minato or Kushina were alive. He would have been twice the shinobi he was now and considering everything he had achieved despite all his handicaps…

But there was no point talking about 'what ifs?'. Mistakes had been made and the best way forward was to learn from them and avoid repeating them in the future. What he had to do right now was put everything he had into preparing Naruto to be trained by Jiraiya for the next three years.

This should have been happening in all these months prior instead of in a three-week crash course. This all highlighted one thing that had been plaguing him for the past week; just what had he been doing as a jonin sensei?

His 'Sharingan no Kakashi' hype had gone to his head. He was still a damn powerful ninja but nowhere close to where he should or could be. His skills had slipped since he left ANBU and his judgement had been skewed.

His first encounter with Zabuza highlighted nearly all his problems. Nukenin were constantly on the run from bounty hunters and hunter nin, their skills often tended to suffer unless they were S-rankers who tended to be damn near impossible to track. Kakashi may have defeated Zabuza both times, but the manner in which he did so was pathetic. It should have gone much differently –

Without being captured.

Without involving his genin.

Without passing out.

Without being fooled by the fake hunter nin.

His genin should have died on their first mission. He knew it. His genin had only survived because of luck and their inherent talent.

And then what did he do to prepare them after? He taught them only tree walking. Granted it was an important skill, but it wasn't enough for a situation like that. That boy, Haku was easily a jonin level shinobi. Sasuke and Naruto both should have been six feet under the ground. If not for the Kyuubi it would have been the case. They were saved not because of his mentorship, rather by the ingeniousness of a man who had passed away more than a decade ago. A man who was younger than him and had been a shinobi for shorter time then he had.

And the issues were just getting started.

There was signing them up for the chunin exams when he knew that they weren't ready. Sealing Sasuke's curse mark without advice from the Hokage or Jiraiya. Recklessly threatening Orochimaru, a person who could've killed him twenty times over. Allowing Kabuto to get away at the hospital. Teaching Sasuke the Chidori. Not bothering to check if Orochimaru had minders on Sasuke before he left on mission.

Yup…a long, long list of mistakes for the so-called best jonin of the village.

But Kakashi wasn't one to sulk despite what people thought. He had got as far as he did because he was somebody who learned from his mistakes and kept adapting. It may have slowed down over the past few years, but that ability never faded.

All his instincts were screaming at him to get far, far stronger.

It stretched beyond just the Akatsuki. Some people may call it a cynical worldview, but Kakashi always believed that war was a constant of their shinobi system with the only variable being how long between each one.

And Naruto was going to face the brunt of all of these threats.

No matter how strong he could get, he couldn't do it alone. He would need him, if not as a sensei then as a commander, a comrade, a senior and a friend.

He was less than useless as he was now. There were shinobi out there who were in the same class as Itachi and as he was now he was useless against them.

_'Minato-sensei would have had Itachi running for the hills. Even Tou-san would have pushed him to his limits'_

He was both their legacies. If they could match such an incredible shinobi then so would he. He had to because no matter what he wouldn't allow a comrade to die, much less his precious student. With that thought, Kakashi resolved himself stronger than he had ever been before.

He'd be better no matter what. It was time the copy ninja, Kakashi no Sharingan lived up to his hype as a legend. He'd be stronger to protect the future of Konoha. He'd be there to support Naruto all the way through it.

That was a promise

**I know Naruto's birthday happens in this period, but I can't think of any way to add it to the story without getting to convoluted. So, his birthday happens off-panel where he spends the day with Shizune and Tsunade.**

**October 25th:**

"He's improved quite a bit wouldn't you say, Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi spoke in a bored tone glancing backwards at the trees behind him.

The Toad Sage sprung forward and stood beside Kakashi. Both men remained silent watching the three genin sparring in front of them. Naruto, Neji and Lee – the three strongest genin in Konoha at the moment facing off in a battle royale. Neji with his prodigious Jyuuken and Byakugan, Rock Lee with his freakish speed and the hard hitting Goken, and finally Naruto with clones and a whole bag of tricks and deception.

It was quite a spectacle. Gai watched carefully from the other end, keeping himself close enough to intervene in case things went too far.

"He really has…his technique looks convincing now, though he didn't really need it to be"

"True, but he was willing to make the effort…something about traitorous, idiotic taijutsu instructors sabotaging him for several years"

Jiraiya winced lightly, "People never realize the value of proper instruction until they're deprived of it".

The two continued to watch the battle. Naruto deftly avoided a Jyuuken blow causing it to strike Lee in the stomach, which unfortunately deviated the path of his kick straight into Naruto who was sent flying into Neji's legs. The three struggled up from the ground as they began to fight it out again.

"What of his ninjutsu and chakra control?" he asked.

"His chakra control has improved by quite a bit. He got the idea of practicing the Rasengan while walking on water. If he keeps it up that way, he may be able to perform it one-handed soon. Apart from that, I had him work on perfecting his hand signs and practice all his jutsu except Kuchiyose"

"I see…did you teach him any new jutsu?"

Kakashi nodded, "I thought him Shuriken Kage Bunshin since he's proficient with Kage Bunshins. He somewhat figured out the Shunshin no Jutsu by himself, so I helped him perfect it"

"You said figured out?"

"Yeah…he taught it himself just from observation" Kakashi explained, "And a rudimentary explanation of 'how it feels' "

"Interesting…have you tested his chakra nature?"

"Natures" Kakashi corrected, "He's got a primary Futon and minor Raiton affinity"

"Nothing's ever normal with him is it? Without a Kekkai Genkai, having a secondary affinity is astronomical…Anything else you want to add?"

Kakashi nodded, "He's gained interest in fuinjutsu. I wasn't sure on how to get him started, so I figured it's best to leave that aspect of his training to you. Though I had him start practicing his calligraphy and handwriting extensively"

"What got him into it?"

"Apparently Tsunade-sama taught him a bit. He got slightly interested, but mostly it was after he found out the Hiraishin no Jutsu is based on fuinjutsu. Somebody will have their hands full now" Kakashi grinned

"Fitting indeed" Jiraiya said with his own grin, "Well it's time for us to go meet Tsunade-hime. She has something very important to tell Naruto"

Kakashi paused for a moment before asking, "It wouldn't be about _that_ would it?"

Jiraiya smiled lightly before nodding, just as Naruto walked towards them.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, Jiraiya-sensei. What's up?"

"Come on kid. The two of us going to see Tsunade-hime. There's something very important she wants to tell you"

Naruto's brow furrowed, "What is it?"

Jiraiya smiled wide, "A secret!" he chirped much to Naruto's annoyance.

"Hey baachan, you wanted to see us?" Naruto asked

Tsunade nodded, "Yes Naruto. Come in" she said as she began to activate several seals. Naruto noticed a rather thick looking barrier appear around the room. Even subtle movements created an echo against it.

"A…sound barrier?"

"Otherwise known as a privacy barrier. But that isn't important. What we're here to tell you about is…it's about your parents Naruto"

His eyes shot wide, "Wha-what?!" his body was tensed as he felt a cold shiver pass through him.

"Sarutobi-sensei really wanted to tell you Naruto, but you were a child and we couldn't trust you with that information. Your parents were powerful and with many enemies. If your heritage was publicly known, you'd have to deal with not only enemies from outside but inside as well"

Naruto became confused, "Inside? Why would people in Konoha attack me?"

Jiraiya shook his head, "Not enemies in the conventional sense…rather they would have tried to use you for their own ends" he explained

"O-o-ok"

"You've probably been afraid that they abandoned you, but they didn't. They both passed away during the Kyubi attack" Tsunade told him.

Naruto felt a huge weight lift from him.

Tsunade slowly brought out a small picture, "This is your mother her name was Uzumaki Kushina"

Naruto shakily grasped the image. Seeing the image, he began to cry immediately, "Kaa-chan…she was so beautiful"

"She was. She was an incredible woman. Known as the Akai Chishio Habanero. Strong, fierce yet the most loving person I've met. While she was pregnant with you, she had never been happier in her life" Jiraiya spoke sadly.

Naruto forcefully wiped his tears, "Did she really? She wouldn't care about-"

"No. And I know she never will"

Naruto nodded slowly before asking, "And what about my…" he froze when he looked at the picture of the Yondaime.

It clicked.

When he was younger he had suspected it due to their similarities. But he had brushed it off due to their differing last names as well as the fact that he thought that nobody could possibly hate the son of their greatest hero. It was all just a fantasy to him. It was just like a children's story where the orphaned loser was secretly a prince.

"Wait…Uzumaki is my mother's name. She has red hair and violet eyes, I have blue eyes and blonde hair…no…" he said eyes widened.

"Naruto…"

"No, no, no, no…" he began chanting gripping his head.

Both watched on as Naruto began to shake his head feverently.

"NO! It can't be! He was a great man! He'd never do something like that to his own son!" he yelled crying wildly.

Tsunade looked away head down. Jiraiya sighed understanding just how shocking such news could be.

Jiraiya spoke, "He was the Hokage, his duty was to protect the village. If he couldn't sacrifice his own son, how could he ask someone else?"

"I-I don't know what to think. Did he know? Did he know that everybody would hate me?"

"He truly believed in the village. He believed that they would heed his final words to view you as a hero. But he did this in the knowledge that your mother was the previous jinchuriki of the Kyuubi"

Naruto's heart nearly stopped, "What?" he asked very softly.

"She had a special bloodline that could suppress a bijuu's chakra. During childbirth, the seal holding a bijuu is weakened. On the night of your birth, something went wrong causing the Kyuubi to be released. Once the bijuu is released or extracted from the jinchuriki it always results in death. Minato sealed the Kyuubi within you, because destroying it was simply a temporary solution. All it would achieve would be to piss it off before it reformed in a few years. He took the best of the worst choices. He...both of them died weeping. They shed tears for their son who they left alone. For what it's worth they wanted nothing more than to live with you…_for_ you"

Naruto shut his eyes tightly, "I-I understand…but I don't think I can ever forgive him" he said softly.

Neither replied.

Naruto shook his head, "I don't understand one thing though. Kaa-chan helped stop the Kyubi as well. Nobody calls her a hero, nobody remembers her"

"So, what are you saying?"

"She deserved much better than that. I may really be Namikaze Naruto but I won't take the name. I was born an Uzumaki, lived an Uzumaki and I will die an Uzumaki" he declared.

Tsunade smiled gently at that, "She'd have been so proud of you for that…but are you alright Naruto?"

"I'm just a little angry baachan. Is there…is there anything they've left for me?"

"There is actually. They saved up a good amount of money which was transferred to your account when you made genin. They had a small house too…you can move in there if you want" Jiraiya said.

"Maybe not yet…I don't think I'm ready. Do you have any pictures of Tou-chan and Kaa-chan together?" he asked.

Jiraiya nodded and retrieved one last picture.

It was one of a pregnant Kushina, with Minato lying his head on her tummy. Naruto touched the photo close to his chest with his eyes shut.

Few moments passed before he serene smile appeared on his face, "Their love and their will lived on in me. From the Kiroii Senko and the Akai Chishio Habenero comes the future Konoha's Orange Hokage. I'll live up to both their legacies and become the greatest Hokage ever. That's a promise!" he said with a wide grin.

Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged proud smiles as they watched Naruto adoringly look at the photo.

**November 1st:**

"Well I guess this is it guys" Naruto spoke. He looked over all the Rookies and all jonin senseis, obviously except Kakashi, assembled near the gate.

"I will be looking forward to a most youthful fight when you return Naruto-kun! May the flames of youth burn bright within you!"

"Well said student Lee! I wish you luck as well Naruto-kun! Allow your burning passion to explode with all its power and you will become a most youthful ninja!"

Neji and Tenten sighed, "In simple terms…have a great trip and train hard to become a great ninja" Tenten explained embarrassed.

Naruto smiled, "Thanks guys!"

He turned to team eight.

"Heh don't get too cocky! We'll surpass you in no-" he started until he was elbowed rather hard by Kurenai.

"What he means to say is we'll miss having you. Be safe and have a wonderful journey" Kurenai said with a smile.

"Indeed. Your enthusiasm and energy will be missed. Have a safe trip Naruto" Shino added with a nod.

"Thanks Kurenai-sensei, thanks Shino. You're a prick but thanks Kiba" he turned to Hinata who seemed on the verge of tears, "Huh? What's the matter Hinata?"

"N-n-nothing. I'll miss you Naruto-kun" she whispered.

"I'll miss you guys too. Don't worry three years will go in a flash" he said reassuringly.

Hinata smiled gently. She wanted to say more but her head fell slightly when she realized that Naruto had shifted his attention to team ten. She felt a comforting hand from Kurenai on her shoulder, "There's always time, don't worry". Hinata nodded feeling slightly better.

"Good luck Naruto-" Chouji started

"Don't do anything too troublesome" Shikamaru cut in.

Ino twitched slightly, "Is that all you have to say?"

Shikamaru sighed, "Fine, fine. You're a real troublesome guy, but things will be a bit dull around here with you gone..."

"I get it guys. Thanks" Naruto cut in before another argument broke out.

Slowly he turned to his last remaining teammate. Sakura seemed a bit reserved, "So…this is it for team seven?" she asked quietly.

Naruto's head hung slightly before it shot up with a bright grin, "Nah! We're teammates no matter what Sakura! Any team with us is the best!"

Sakura smiled, "Definitely…better train hard Naruto or I'll leave you in the dust!"

"Just you try!" he chirped and Kakashi appeared just that moment.

"Yo!"

"You're…on time?" Naruto voiced everyone's thoughts. Kakashi simply ignored the odd looks as he eye-smiled.

"Maa, can't miss my cute little genin leaving, can I? Besides I got a little something for you" he said tossing him a scroll

Naruto blinked slightly, "Is this…?"

Kakashi nodded, "Yup! Stay safe, I'll be waiting to see how strong you've gotten when you return"

Naruto grinned, "Thanks Kakashi-sensei!"

He finally turned to Tsunade and Shizune. Shizune bent down and gave him a tight hug, "Stay safe Naruto-kun. We'll all be waiting for you to be back"

Naruto hugged her back, "Of course nee-chan. I'll be back in top shape don't you worry"

Letting go off the embrace he finally turned to Tsunade whose face was stoic. When their eyes met Tsunade's face softened as she bent down to come face to face with Naruto.

"Stay safe ok…listen to Jiraiya and train hard everyday…but make sure you rest enough and don't overdo it! I better not hear you got hurt or you'll piss me off! And don't you dare pick up any habits from this old lecher! Stay away from the three vices! Save your money and spend it wisely! No girls or sake till you're eighteen understood?!" she said as her voice got louder and more threatening with each sentence causing everybody to sweatdrop.

Naruto was blushed hard causing several to snicker at his expense, "Baachan! I'll never turn out like Ero-Sennin! Promise!"

"Good. Come back in one piece. I'm holding your hat for you" she said hugging him tightly.

"I will" Naruto said hugging her back, "I'll save you from paperwork don't you worry!"

Naruto let go and gave a final wave, "See you everybody!"

"Bye Naruto"

The two walked slowly past the gate. Naruto didn't turn back. He was psyched for the three years to come. He smiled confidently as he walked side by side with his sensei.

Seeing him so upbeat Jiraiya smiled, "So, you excited kid?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah I am. So, what's the plan?"

"We'll find a nearby city and we'll start planning but most likely it'll be by the ear. Once that's done, we'll get right into training. I have three years to get you as strong as possible and I don't intend to waste a single moment"

"Me neither. The Akatsuki won't know what hit them!"

* * *

**So that ends the first chapter! Hope you guys liked it.**

**The main idea behind this story is that Naruto isn't just worried about getting Sasuke back. He had the Akatsuki coming after him and Jiraiya seemed to suggest there's a lot of trouble brewing on the horizon. Naruto's going to be trained into the ground. Mostly so he doesn't have his strength skyrocket like it did in canon. After he created the Rasenshuriken, his strength increased a bit too quickly for my liking. I always preferred having a more gradual progression.**

**If there are any of your favorite characters you'd like me to develop, I'm open to suggestion. I for one will be focusing on developing the kunoichi like Tsunade and Mei because I honestly feel they deserved so much more.**

**I'm unsure of the pairings as of right now. I will write out the story and as I go along I may choose someone, but for now it's undecided. To be honest I'm not very much for NaruHina since it's already done in canon and most of the attempts on fandom just feel forced. I have several ideas but where's the fun in spoiling it? Got to keep some suspense to keep you guys hooked, right?**

**Reviews on what you loved or hated would be much appreciated.**

**Peace**


	2. Chapter 2: The Rise Begins

**Choices:**

**Hey guys I'm back with the second chapter. The next couple chapters won't be overly long since I plan on just outlining Naruto's growth as a person through them. As for what he's training, I won't go into every training session he does, probably focusing on the most important ones to the story.**

**Couple of fixes in this chapter as well.**

**This is set immediately after he leaves Konoha. To answer a few burning questions, first Naruto felt betrayed by Sasuke and he went to the man who killed the one constant figure in his life. He doesn't hate him but he's understandably angry. Wanting to keep away from him, he's focusing on his training a lot more. Next, Jiraiya will be training his _seriously _over the training trip. Unlike in canon, he'll be returning with lot more than improved tactics and better taijutsu. He's going to be a lot more well-rounded with a wider arsenal.**

**Any other questions feel free to message me.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Rise Begins**

**November 3rd:**

Leaving Konoha had been a lot more difficult than he had expected. Not seeing his home for three years left him craving to stay behind for a little longer. But he steeled himself and walked without ever turning back. Regrets and uncertainty…that just wasn't his style.

So, he travelled forward with his head held high, brimming with anticipation of growing stronger. Unwanted negativity was suppressed not with a naïve daydream rather with faith that his situation would truly improve. It filled him with a calm energy that gave him a skip in his step but didn't have him bouncing off the walls like an endless ball of energy.

The pair stopped at a nearby town within Hi no Kuni when the sun had begun to set. It had been a relatively quiet travel with Naruto taking the time away from training and the village to come to terms with what was happening.

He was out on a three-year training trip with a legendary Sannin and his godfather. He couldn't have been more excited in his life. Despite his disrespectful behavior towards him Naruto looked up to Jiraiya. The way he carried himself as a person and a ninja, was always the way Naruto saw himself in the future. Having an idol in real life to emulate and learn from was truly an exciting prospect.

Then there was the fact that he could finally learn more about his parents. Jiraiya knew them very well and he planned on pulling every single piece of information available on the two of them. He had heard tall tales of his father the ninja, but he was more interested in his father as a man. Was he kind, was he intelligent, was he a lover of ramen?

But he desperately wanted to know more about his mother. The woman he was said to take after, the woman who nobody talked about or acknowledged as a hero. The woman who he knew absolutely nothing about. The woman who had given her life to save his own. He always held a suspicion over his father's identity, but he never had the slightest clue who his mother could be.

Knowing that she had indeed passed and hadn't abandoned him had been relieving. Other kids would always taunt him over the fact that he had no parents and the worse of these was when they called his mother a dirty whore who abandoned him. Even if you ignored it, a small part of you would always wonder whether it was the truth. The only person he trusted would only tell him she was dead and there was no point bothering about who she was.

None of that mattered anymore. He knew who his parents were. He knew they loved him enough to give their lives for him. Maybe he'd never forgive his father for sealing the Kyuubi within him, but it didn't matter anymore. He now knew who he was and where he came from. He'd make them both proud.

But at the same time there was an overwhelmingly strong sense of anxiety. It was a lot easier to brush the Akatsuki off when they weren't after you and when you weren't so far below their level. They were the best of ninja meaning they'd be willing to do anything to achieve their goals. His village and comrades would come under fire. He didn't want to let everybody who'd placed their faith in him; his parents, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi or Iruka.

He'd train hard and learn everything he could, he'd practice everyday and train by himself also if he had to. No matter what he would get strong.

He had to. There simply wasn't a choice.

The Akatsuki were after all nine of the bijuu. He'd seen the power the Ichibi held firsthand, and if what Gamabunta had suggested was correct than it wasn't the full extent. He'd felt the Kyuubi's power when it flowed through him. The amount he'd been able to use so far was akin to using a cup from an entire ocean. If such a minute amount held such frightening power just how strong was the fox?

Just how strong were all nine of them? One alone could easily destroy a hidden village, Kyuubi was plenty evidence of that and even Shukaku was perfectly capable of doing so.

He shivered thinking of the destruction all that power could accomplish. A nation? A region? Maybe even the world!

And if what he knew about the bijuu was correct, Kyuubi was the most powerful. If anybody wanted so much power under their control, they were up to no good. Getting strong could mean the difference between his village standing and it burnt to ashes.

This realization hit him almost as hard as finding out about the Kyuubi or his parents. Thinking of the Akatsuki he realized he couldn't comprehend just how strong they were. All he knew was that they were stronger than Kakashi-sensei but by how much? That wasn't the only issue. What were their specialties? What kind of jutsu did they have? What secret abilities did they have?

He almost wished he could go back to his childish mindset. Things were so much easier then. Throw his fist first, ask questions later. But having been a shinobi for close to a year, he'd realized just how much deception and subtlety factored into their lifestyles. But at times he just didn't understand how it helped at all.

Jiraiya was a good example. He acted like a complete goof for somebody considered a legend. But then there was the fact that he was ridiculously strong. Itachi and Kisame had bolted the minute he showed up. Why act the fool if you're so damn powerful to scare off two guys like that? Why make people think you're useless? It didn't sit right with him at all…

"Hey sensei?"

"Hm? What?"

"You're a super strong ninja, a legend but you act like a complete goof. It took me a long time to realize just how strong you are but…why do you do it?"

"For that very reason"

"I don't get it"

"See, if you were to encounter Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin or Jiraiya the hopeless pervert, who will you take seriously?"

"The Sannin"

"Exactly. See people are thrown off when they see me goofing around. They assume that my reputation is bogus and I'm a hopeless idiot. They don't take me seriously! That's the beauty of it! They underestimate me and I end them before they right themselves. But the smarter and stronger ones tend to be scared off by my accomplishments and abilities"

"That's…brilliant!"

"You know…you seem to be on the same path, albeit unintentionally. That orange jumpsuit of yours really helps"

"Do people really not take me seriously?" Naruto asked deflating, "You know I did a lot of these things just, so people would look at me. Just feel it wasn't worth it now…sort of"

"Because people have a certain image of you"

"Yeah…"

"Screw them"

"Eh?"

"If people refuse to change their view of you despite proving otherwise again and again, there's really nothing you can do"

"What if you keep trying until they do?"

"That's arrogance. Nobody can outright control another person's actions or thoughts. You can influence them, manipulate them but it's never absolute. You are great at influencing people. But you can't change their thoughts for them. They do it when they understand what you're trying to tell them. If you go about life thinking you can win over every person, then you'll die as a fool"

"Then how will I become Hokage?"

Jiraiya snorted, "Easily enough. The Hokage's weren't gods. They were humans who made a lot of mistakes. Who said you have to win over every soul to become Hokage? Iwa never forgave your father yet he still became Hokage"

"…this is so confusing"

"This is life kid. You're just thirteen and you have plenty of time to figure it out. Learn to worry less and live a little"

"…hey at least I'm thinking now. That's an improvement, right?"

Jiraiya gave a boisterous laugh, "Never lose your optimism Naruto. It really makes my day"

His grin didn't fade for the rest of the night.

* * *

**November 4th: **

Jiraiya slowly walked into the nearby training field. As he had expected he found Naruto waiting for him but he was lightly drenched in sweat indicating he had been training beforehand.

"Ready to begin?" he asked.

"Hai!" Naruto nodded.

"Good. Now you've done several exercises on chakra control and read a bit on it correct?"

"Yeah but it's always a bit hard for me. It's because I have a lot of chakra right?"

"Think of it this way. To fill half a cup of water is it easier to use a tap or use a stream"

"A tap"

"Now most jutsu require very specific amounts of chakra though depending on the rank or type they may be relatively flexible. Most supplementary ninjutsu are quite flexible while something like genjutsu or iryo-ninjutsu require pin-point precision. Are you following me so far?"

Naruto nodded.

"Good. In absolute terms your chakra control is average but in relative terms you have almost prodigious control given your reserves. If your absolute chakra control reaches jonin levels then you'll become a literal juggernaut"

"Since I have so much chakra, I can fill way more cups then other people if I don't waste most of it"

"That's the gist of it"

"So how do I get started?"

"You already have the ultimate tool for training your chakra control"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrow in thought. What could it be?

Kage Bunshins? While they were helpful in speeding up training it didn't sound like exactly what Jiraiya had in mind.

"Wait, the Rasengan?"

"Yes. As I've told you before the Rasengan is the highest level of shape manipulation. Shape manipulation is a form of chakra control. The first step is to be able to do it one-handed without using either Kage Bunshins or your other hand"

"I can do that it just takes a lot of focus and time" he muttered.

Naruto held out his hand and focused hard. He pictured the blue sphere materializing in his hands. He felt his chakra slowly swirl in his hands building up.

"Rasengan!" he cried out as it appeared. He took a deep breath and wiped the drops of sweat on his forehead.

"Well that's an improvement. But you need to be much, much faster. The entire point of this jutsu is to deal massive damage instantaneously. That will be your training for now. Your Rasengan needs to be formed within the blink of an eye. You can use four Kage Bunshins to help you train"

"Why four? I can do a lot more"

"Like Kakashi said not only is there a mental strain that comes with it but it shouldn't become a crutch. You'll become less observant because you'll just depend on the memory of your clones. I will allow you to use them in your training when you are attempting to master a skill or technique since we're pressed for time. If you're learning anything new or developing a skill it has to be done perfectly. More than that, with too many clones you'll make small mistakes that eventually become habits which are weaknesses enemies will exploit"

"I understand. Is there any other training I have to do?"

"Kid, I'm not going to babysit you and tell you what to do. I'll guide you and teach you new things, but you have to develop yourself. You're a ninja not a child. You have to maintain your own training regimen along with whatever material I have you working on"

"Sounds like a lot"

"It will be. This is a 'training' trip Naruto. You'll spend most of your time training"

"I can live with that…alright let's do this!" Naruto declared with determination. Producing four clones he immediately began to focus on his training again.

Jiraiya noting Naruto's focus was on his training leapt up into one of the nearby trees. He carefully positioned himself so he was out of earshot and so Naruto would have a hard time spotting him while he could keep watch of him. Slowly suppressing his chakra, he shifted to the branch several meters away, where a murder of crows coalesced to reveal the figure of Uchiha Itachi.

"Jiraiya-sama" he greeted.

"Hello Itachi" he replied. Itachi slipped a scroll which Jiraiya discretely put into his robe.

His Sharingan slowly shifted to the scene down below, as they slowly followed his movements. After a moment he spoke, "He's grown"

"It was bound to happen. Though we should be thankful it was sooner rather than later"

"Indeed. It appears Sasuke played a role in it"

"Who's in Orochimaru's hands now. I expected you to be a bit more…proactive"

"Tobi would jump at the chance to use Sasuke as a hostage. It's only Pein's word that stays his hand as he prefers to leave Orochimaru to his own devices at the moment"

"I see…I must say it is an interesting dynamic you three have. I certainly didn't expect you to leave a man such as that to his schemes"

"I would kill Tobi but that would incite Pein. That man is too dangerous to be left unchecked and should he move I may be the only forewarning for it. It took me years to even begin to comprehend his power. The Rinnegan truly is a frightening power…you truly believe that this man was once your student?"

"The Rinnegan was supposed to be a myth Itachi. What are the chances of it appearing twice in a lifetime within the same country? Knowing Konan is a member either Yahiko or Nagato wouldn't be far behind"

"There is also the fact that doujutsu are not easily transplanted. Uzumaki Nagato is Pein's true identity. This confirms our theory on Danzo's involvement in Ame. Has he made any movements of late?"

"He's been keeping tight lipped since the invasion. Orochimaru was a widely known associate of his and his rise would have raised far too many questions. Tsunade-hime will handle him"

"He is a dangerous man"

"Don't worry yourself over it. Tsunade-hime may not seem like it but she's one of the most devious people I know. She'll handle Danzo"

"If you say so Jiraiya-sama…if I may ask how to you intend on carrying his training forward?"

"That's a whole boat of problems right there. The kid's actually a lot sharper than I realized and he's using Kage Bunshins. He's picking onto things almost as fast as Minato did"

"I see…but even then, three years is much to short a time to become an S-ranked ninja"

"Don't remind me. I intended to use Kyuubi's chakra to bring him up to speed but Tsunade pointed out you guys are after jinchuriki and bijuu"

"Indeed. Between my genjutsu and Kisame's Samehada, he wouldn't even have a chance to use Kyuubi's chakra. Have you considered teaching him senjutsu? He is a toad summoner after all"

"There are more requirements than just being a toad summoner…but I never considered it as an option. Senjutsu would certainly close the gap" Jiraiya contemplated, "See! You do good work!"

"Happy to help" Itachi stated dryly, "I am out of chakra now. Until next time Jiraiya-sama" 'Itachi' spoke before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"For an eighteen-year-old he's far, far too morbid" Jiraiya muttered to himself. Even Minato at eighteen was a bright cheerful man, more concerned about making his girlfriend happy then world-threatening scenarios. Uchiha Itachi to Jiraiya represented everything wrong with the shinobi world and every reason to fight for peace.

He didn't know too much about him until after he the Uchiha massacre. As a professional, he was someone any shinobi would delight in working with. Disciplined, professional, efficient and straightforward.

But as a person you could just see how disturbed he was if you were able to see past the thick mask of stoicism. A pacifist who detested conflict forced to murder his own clan and go rogue? The fact that he was functioning in itself was a miracle. Lesser shinobi had broken over more trivial events. As a ninja Itachi was the cream of the crop but as a person he was likely too broken to ever live even a normal shinobi life. It was probably a mercy that he'd contracted such a terminal illness. After facing so much suffering and loss, death was likely the only place he'd ever find peace.

He glanced down at his student who was hard at work. He couldn't help but ponder what steps Naruto would have taken against the Uchiha coup-de-tat, had he been Hokage.

Minato would have no doubt confronted them directly and pushed for a peaceful resolution no matter the cost. Sarutobi-sensei would have pushed for peaceful negotiations at first, but if they fell through, he would have dealt with the instigators harshly. He may have been a forgiving person but he knew when to withhold mercy. The Sandaime's wrath, was arguably one of the worst you could face in the world.

He snorted at the thought of what Danzo would do. In a way the old bastard had gotten his way, but Itachi had the last laugh since he was free of his jurisdiction. There was nothing he could _legally _do against Itachi. It made him wonder whether that's why he had pushed Sasuke into departing for Orochimaru.

Danzo, unlike Orochimaru, was well connected within Konoha. They couldn't just 'disappear' him since he was well known within the courts of the Fire Daimyo. They might be civilians but they weren't naïve. Being Konoha's primary benefactor and client, if news of a well-placed village elder being assassinated got out they'd lose a large portion of their highest paying clients, which would be disastrous.

This meant that the only way to take Danzo down was with solid evidence, but another problem arose. Sarutobi-sensei had turned a blind eye so long that Danzo that he had learned every possible way of covering himself both politically and legally.

It hadn't taken long for both Tsunade and Jiraiya to agree following the former's ascension that he had to be dealt with. As useful as he was, he only caused more harm to the village from his actions.

Then there was the fact that he had made his interest in training Naruto rather vocal since his birth. It was one of the few privileged times he got to hear Tsunade cuss as she hissed a sharp 'Oh fuck no!'.

But it all ultimately boiled down to one thing. Regardless of who it was, an innocent thirteen-year-old or a hardened eighteen-year-old, it was the way of their village to protect the next generation, even if it came at the cost of their lives. And Jiraiya was prepared to do exactly that when the time arrived.

* * *

Naruto panted and held his hand out. Focusing he called out, "Rasengan!". In an instant a perfect sphere of blue chakra appeared in his palm. He smiled, "Yes. Finally got it"

Dispelling the technique, he crossed his fingers and did the same for his clones. He took a sharp breath as he felt a rapid influx of memories. Sifting through it quickly he made a conscious effort to remember only relevant information.

Opening his eyes up he held out his hand again, "Rasengan" he said much more gently as the technique formed with even more ease. The chakra slowly spun slower and shrunk before it disappeared. With a huff Naruto collapsed to the ground exhausted.

"Finally got it down huh?"

"You weren't kidding when you said this is hard" Naruto panted, "My chakra control hasn't improved by this much since I did the tree walking exercise"

"That's good, but you've barely touched the surface with the Rasengan's potential"

"What do you mean?"

"What you're doing now is the most basic Rasengan there is. You can alter it in so many ways. The size, the chakra density, rotation direction, double-handed but biggest of all adding nature transformation"

"So, we could make a Raiton Rasengan or a Katon Rasengan"

"In theory…in practice it's borderline impossible. I've worked for close to a decade and a half to create a Katon Rasengan and I haven't had the slightest success"

"Fifteen years?" Naruto gaped.

"The Rasengan is almost an S-rank technique. The chakra cost is too high for most people. Even somebody like Kakashi can do it about ten to twelve times. Adding nature transformation to any technique increases the chakra cost exponentially"

"Kakashi-sensei said he can do his Raikiri six times"

"That jutsu is an S-ranked technique. Without nature transformation even genin have enough chakra to perform that shape transformation even if it would deplete most of their reserves"

"So, the Rasengan with a nature transformation…"

"Would be impossible for most people unless the nature transformation is applied perfectly. You'll start understanding exactly what I'm talking about when I teach you about elemental ninjutsu"

"You'll really teach me that?"

"Of course. You're a chakra powerhouse and rather talented at ninjutsu. Elemental ninjutsu is the best thing I could teach you. You don't have the chakra limitations most others have"

Naruto couldn't suppress a grin and nodded.

Jiraiya chuckled, "Alright enough talk about training. Let's get something to eat"

"Alright. Let's go sensei"

* * *

**November 12th:**

The next nine days had Naruto focusing on developing all the variants of the normal Rasengan. He first worked on getting the Rasengan to rotate in the opposite direction. This proved to be rather difficult since his chakra would resist against the counter-spin taking substantial effort for him to achieve it.

Immediately after he began working on increasing the size of his Rasengan. Being a jutsu based of compression, increasing the Rasengan's size required exponentially higher chakra input. To double the size, it needed four times as much chakra, to triple nine times and so forth. Naruto managed to get his Rasengan to about four times the size creating a jutsu he dubbed the Oodama Rasengan.

He had been elated at first thinking that he had created a new technique but deflated rather quickly when he found out both his father and Jiraiya already came up with the technique. Jiraiya chuckled ruffling the boy's hair telling that he should be proud that as a thirteen-year-old he was mastering techniques legends knew. Taking it in stride he became motivated to create his own unique Rasengan variations.

Finally came the hardest part. Performing the Rasengan in both hands. It hadn't been part of the training plan and Jiraiya had told him to skip over it, but Naruto just wanted to have that perfected as well. He just wanted to have the technique his father worked on so hard to be perfected in every sense.

That was why he was pushing himself as hard as he was today. The backs of his palm faced his chest. He pictured both spinning down on the side they were meeting. He felt sweat begin to pool at his temple from the amount of focus he needed. Once he had a feel for his chakra his eyes shot open.

"Rasenrengan!"

He stared down to see two football sized Rasengans in either hand spinning in opposite directions. He broke into a smile before he began to laugh in excitement, "I did it! I did it!"

"Pipe down brat…honestly"

Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly, "Sorry…old habits"

Jiraiya shook his head, "You need to work on controlling your emotions better kid"

"How would I do that?"

"Simple really you have to give your self-time to suppress any reactions"

"Huh? I thought you meant that we shouldn't feel anything"

"No, no. Humans can't control what they feel no matter what. Trying to suppress or eliminate your emotion is impossible. It just causes you to have a lot of pent up feelings. That Uchiha?" Naruto flinched lightly, "He refused to come to terms with his clans passing. He was lonely like you, any orphaned kid would be. What did he do instead of opening up to people and admitting he was hurting? He pushed it away trying not to feel it at all. Just look at the path it led to"

"Are you saying that Sasuke being a stoic bastard caused all this? That he ended up turning the way he is now just because he tried to get rid of all feelings except for his hatred for his brother?"

"That's exactly what happened. All that emotion that's locked away inside us needs a release somewhere. Emotions are like energy. We ninja often need vices and hobbies to vent it because we spend so much time pushing them down…but I if there is anything I learned it's that you can't stop yourself feeling a certain way. You can control how you act on them"

"So…it's ok for me to…never mind"

"There's no need to be ashamed Naruto. As I told you we can't control how we feel. As long as you don't act on them it's fine"

"I…I keep getting the feeling that I'm not doing enough. It's been a week and I feel like I should have done more than just coming up with variations of the Rasengan"

To his surprise Jiraiya burst out laughing, "What the hell is so funny?!"

"Seriously kid, you're too much. Feel like you should be doing more?"

Naruto's face reddened in anger, "Of course I should! I _have _to get strong!"

"Careful…while it's good to aim to be stronger, a lust for power will only corrupt you" Jiraiya had turned completely serious, "Isn't that what happened to that Uchiha boy?"

Naruto flinched lightly, "Yeah…"

"Sit down Naruto and listen carefully. What I'm about to tell you I want you to remember and understand for the rest of your life"

Nodding slowly Naruto took a seat.

"See…like I said there are somethings in life that we can't control no matter what. We like to all think that we have the ability to truly change our reality. People take comfort in this illusion of control. That's why everybody always believes that they are doing the right thing. If you asked a tyrant why they're killing the very people they rule what do you think they'll say?"

"They're doing it because they think they're right. But doing something like that is evil"

"Based on what?"

"Because it's wrong and we shouldn't do it"

"And we don't do the same?"

Naruto's eyes widened, "You're saying Konoha does that"

"As much as I detest saying it…we do. Konoha is different but we are still a shinobi village. The ANBU black ops work on suicide missions. If they're caught we leave them to the vultures claiming that they worse off without them, that he's saving many for the cost of few"

"But that's wrong!"

"Is it? Doesn't Konoha do the very same thing? Sacrifice few shinobi to protect the masses?"

"What?! But we're built on teamwork and never letting our comrades die!"

"Yes, that's our founding principle, but do you believe that every single shinobi follows that. Do you believe that everybody agrees with that principle without question?"

Naruto was about to yell of course they did but then images of Mizuki and Sasuke flashed through his head.

"No…but I don't understand. Do we really sacrifice people like that? In cold blood"

"Not in cold blood. Rather shinobi are those willing to put their lives on the line for something more important. But can you say that for everybody? People have motives, dreams and goals. Sarutobi-sensei mentioned that one of your chunin instructors tricked you into stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Seals with the intent of killing you. Do you think you could have swayed him off his hate for you?"

"I…I don't know"

"And that's alright. You have to ask yourself are you willing to endanger your comrades and friends on the off-chance that you can convince them to not take the wrong path. Beating them to submission and giving them a chance at redemption is one thing, but in the midst of battle trying to convince them otherwise is paramount to stupidity. That's the true reason you couldn't bring that Uchiha boy back"

Naruto flinched lightly, "I…I didn't want to hurt him"

"What was your mission?"

"To…stop Sasuke from going to Orochimaru. It wasn't to save him or bring him back. It was to stop him from going to Orochimaru who now has a chance to get the Sharingan"

"You saw first-hand just how powerful he was even without his jutsu. Imagine having one of the most feared Kekkai Genkai on top of that power…"

Naruto sat stock straight, "He'd wipe the floor with Konoha"

"Indeed…fortunately there are contingencies in place to prevent it from occurring"

"W-what do you mean contingencies?"

"He was a flight risk. Tsunade isn't blind gaki and she knew he'd run to Orochimaru the first chance he got. With our forces diminished following the invasion, a group of genin would be most likely to go after him. She knew you'd be on the team and you would be the one to fight him in the end"

"She foresaw all that?"

"Not alone. Several people pooled in their thoughts and we formulated some plans to prevent Orochimaru from getting his hands on the Sharingan…but understand this Naruto, not always will there be a safety net to allow you to fall back on should you fail to complete your mission. Some may very well lead to the fall of Konoha if you're not careful"

"Then why didn't you tell me any of this before?! That I screwed up?!"

Jiraiya ruffled his hair which only infuriated him, "Because you can learn and grown from this. You will mess up plenty of times, but I expect you to learn from them. You considered Sasuke a friend, but you can't value a single friendship over the well-being of an entire village. A Hokage's duty is to protect the welfare of the village and all its people. You have to not only understand what your mission parameters are but what are the short and long-term consequences. Every time a person leads a mission they must be careful when considering this or it could be the spark needed to ignite the next major conflict"

"But one simple failed mission couldn't lead to a world war right?" Naruto asked but his eyes widened when Jiraiya shook his head, "Which one?!"

"The Third Shinobi World War was started over an argument on a plate of dango"

"…."

Naruto was completely lost for words, "Can you say that again? The Third War was started over dango?!"

"You can call it the match to the bonfire. All the escalating tension and conflict was sparked by an argument over dango. A small conflict between Iwa and Kusa shinobi over some dango caused a brawl to break out. This escalated into an ugly battle. Konoha moved to investigate but this sent the wrong message. Every hidden village became cautious and began throwing accusations from this simple action. Iwa began aggressive propaganda against Konoha and they began attempts to infiltrate Amegakure, which they thought was weakened severely after the Second War. Boy were they wrong, since it only served to incite Hanzo the Salamander. His forces repelled Iwa who then attempted to infiltrate Kusa no Kuni. There was a single mission sent from Konoha with some of our best men. Their instructions were very simple, to destroy Kannabi Bridge before Iwa could use it to set hold in Kusa"

"They failed, didn't they?"

"Indeed…Iwa took control of Kusa no Kuni and began to lay siege into Hi no Kuni. Kumogakure seeing their opportunity advanced from our East flanks. Suna remained neutral, while Kiri attempted to take out both Kumo and Konoha"

"All this fighting over one damn plate of food? So many lives lost, so much violence. But how does this have to do with completing a mission?"

"Simple, the man was to return to his village immediately. Instead he decided to take a break which caused said brawl to happen. This is a somewhat exaggerated example but there's a moral to this. Sarutobi-sensei faced a similar dilemma as you did"

"He let Orochimaru go…why?"

"Because he was his student. He had known him for years, molded him, turned him into the shinobi he was. He hesitated in striking him down out of sentimentality, which was understandable but given what Orochimaru is today and all the atrocities he has committed? He held himself responsible for years"

"So Sasuke could…?"

"You can never know for sure…but you need to put him out of your head. Obsessing over what could have happened or what can happen won't achieve anything. Focus on what you are capable of doing now. Train and learn to the best of your ability for the three years to come. Focus on what you can change and what you can control. You'll be amazed just how much you can change and grow just by doing that"

"It sounds tough…but I'm game"

"That's the spirit. It's been a good talk, but we need our rest. Get some sleep and we'll pick up from tomorrow"

"Hai…goodnight sensei"

"Night gaki"

His eyes were closed but his mind remained awake lost in thought.

He felt a strange lightness at that. He'd always worked to suppress his anger at himself and the world, suppress his resentment because he thought it was wrong to feel that since he reasoned that it would just prove the villagers right and he'd end up disappointing those close to him. But what Jiraiya and Tsunade told him made him realize something important.

He could lower his guard around them. He didn't have to act tough around them all the time. They understood, and they wouldn't pity or mock him for it. Maybe…maybe he could always count on them to support him no matter what. Maybe just once he could trust a person blindly instead of acting like he did.

As a kid he trusted the Sandaime almost blindly. He was the only person that interacted with him or treated him like a human being. Anything he told him, anything he asked – Naruto would comply without question. But as he got older he started to feel like he wasn't being entirely honest with him. He started to feel that every time he spoke to him it was to achieve something rather than out of the goodness of his heart. He didn't know how far this feeling was true, but what he did know was he had slowly lost his trust in him over the years. After he learned he was a jinchuriki, he had become very wary of the old man. He never showed it but during his time as a genin he barely trusted him.

But thinking back to how perceptive Jiraiya, Kakashi and Tsunade were, was it a stretch to think that the Sandaime hadn't noticed how he truly felt? But even he had made no such indication always acting as though everything had been the same. Did he really care about him then? He wanted to believe so but he just couldn't know for sure.

He brushed his hair realizing just how little he understood people. For the first time in years he was beginning to understand just what his age and inexperience meant. There was so much he didn't know and understand about how people thought and worked. In fact, he'd say he was a bit behind his peers since he never had anybody explain much of anything to him.

But sitting and actively thinking things through was making it much easier even if he was starting to get a headache from doing so. He was coming to understand that the Sandaime had a duty to the village which was why he'd hidden his status and his heritage. He didn't like it, but he'd willingly accept it and forgive the old man who'd cared for him when nobody else did.

Then came Iruka-sensei. While they had a watershed moment with him during the Mizuki incident, something that had changed his life, Iruka had taken him for granted for the most part. In the Academy he stood by and did nothing when his classmates and even other instructors picked on him. He acted like everything was forgiven because he bought him a few bowls of ramen.

He always got on his case for not trying hard enough which used to hurt him a lot. He'd pass out in training grounds so often by trying to train by himself. No matter how much he asked for help his response would just be 'you have to try harder'. Iruka would always be a lousy teacher and mentor even if he was a good person.

On the theme of lousy teachers, then came Kakashi. He'd always known the man was different. _Very _different. Ninjas didn't usually glare at him or show their hatred like the civilians, but they still kept as far away from his as possible. Kakashi had always been willing to interact with him and was the first person outside the Sandaime and Ichirakus who had been kind to him from the beginning. This had been a welcome and a much-needed change. He'd learnt many important lessons about life and the shinobi world. He respected him a lot as a person and a ninja.

But as a teacher? It wasn't so much about not teaching him, it was about the fact that he left him feeling as though he had no faith in him for so many months. When he had praised him after their first encounter against Zabuza, Naruto had been on the moon.

But after that mission he hadn't given even a word of encouragement. Naruto had trained twice as hard in those months before the chunin exams, but it looked like Kakashi either didn't notice or just didn't care. It killed him every day because he thought the world of his sensei's opinion.

But he had done the bare minimum with them. It was fine with Sasuke considering he had the Sharingan and a whole clan's library and resources. It was unfair for Naruto being orphaned and without his inheritance, but at least he had the Kyuubi in case things went really south.

What about Sakura? She had no way of protecting herself and no matter what excuses Kakashi made, it didn't justify not preparing her. Especially considering she was on a team bound to attract dangerous foes – the strongest jonin of the village, the last loyal Uchiha and the jinchuriki. What if she got killed or captured by enemies? She wasn't even trained enough to handle a group of bandits, something any genin should be able to do easily. And he had been a ninja long enough to know the kind of things people like that did if they captured a kunoichi…

But despite everything…Kakashi did care for his students. He had seen how fiercely he had fought to defend them against Zabuza. He tried his best to act as a common target to help give them something to bond over even at the risk of alienating him. And if there was one thing Naruto was good at, it was looking at intentions beneath a person's actions. Kakashi had meant well even if he didn't act or show it. Naruto still held enough respect for him that he'd continue to call him his sensei.

Jiraiya was the best teacher he had, which in some ways was sad considering he hadn't put in much effort into it so far. The fact that he was his godfather ticked him off, a lot. He had given his reasons – neither did he like them nor did he think they were very good reasons, but there was no use crying over spilled milk. Besides he was slowly becoming a pretty important part of his life. It was just so easy to relax around the man. He didn't have to hold any image of being alright or strong. He could show his weakness and insecurities. The worst that would happen was he would be teased for it. There was no judgment at all. Maybe that was what it meant to have a family.

Thinking of family always made him think of Tsunade and Shizune, the only two people who had been fair to him from the beginning. They put up with his antics no matter how many headaches it caused but they still treated him the same at the end of the day. They didn't lie to him to suit their needs nor did they hold some expectation for him to act in a certain way.

Shizune always got him to behave. It was like she had some magical switch that completely made him forget how to argue whenever she said something. She was just too nice a person to upset.

Of course, there was Tsunade who was the near opposite. She had a stubborn streak that could match his own and a temper that sent even the calmest of people into terror. Maybe it was that Uzumaki blood they shared? Whatever it was, there was the fact that she was the person he respected most in the world. Not that he'd ever tell her that since he didn't need her to hold it over his head.

But then people would question him about friends. There were really very few people he could use that term for.

Gaara was a friend. He understood him and he didn't take him for granted. He hadn't known him for long but he knew he could count on him to have his back.

Shikamaru and Chouji were friends. The former may have been rude at times but he was always helpful and one of the few people who could tell when something was bothering him. Chouji was one of the nicest people he had ever met. He had even shared his chips with him, Chouji hardly ever shared his chips which meant a lot.

He had gotten a lot closer to Lee and Neji over the last couple of weeks before he left from Konoha. They sparred multiple times it was always fun with those two. Lee was energetic and blindingly optimistic. When coupled with the sharp wit of one Hyuuga Neji, it led to more than a few enjoyable moments. Neji really had turned over a new leaf.

But the rest of the so-called Konoha Eleven? Either he didn't know them too much or he had quite a good reason to not want to interact with them.

Ino had always been incredibly rude and condescending towards him. He'd credit her for at least trying to act nicer. Kiba was a straight up dick to him most of the time, but he was sometimes a decent person to hang around.

He didn't know much about Shino, Hinata or Tenten. Shino was practically mute. He hardly spoke a word and it was just hard to get to know somebody that way. Same problem with Hinata, except she was shy. She was always fainting and turning red around him. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was scared of him. And he hadn't interacted much with Tenten either.

That just left his teammates…

Sakura brought a whole bag of emotions. He had chased after her for so many years. He never understood what dates were but since all the girls asked Sasuke out he supposed that's what he had to do. They kept persisting, so he thought it was the right way to woo somebody. Combined with his never-give up attitude he kept up at it as much as Sakura did with Sasuke. But the question remained, did he ever really like Sakura?

Sure, she was smart and pretty but as a person…she really left much to be desired. She hit him constantly, berated him and put him down no matter what. Heck, he risked his life saving hers from Gaara and she hadn't even thanked him. She had just worried over Sasuke. Always Sasuke! It was like he just wasn't there!

At the gate when she had begged him to bring back Sasuke he had realized just how obsessed Sakura was with him. It stung seeing her crying that way and basically coercing him into making that promise. He understood that people could have intense feelings for each other such that it pushed them to extremes…

But to be so to a degree that she didn't even care for Naruto's well-being, somebody who she'd fought and trained with side by side, somebody who'd always tried to cheer her up, somebody who saved her life so many times.

She probably never gave a damn.

…

But as always, his optimism had borne through and he chose to give her a chance. He chose to act like they were just bad choices made by an otherwise decent person. That maybe when he returned that they just might be able to become real friends.

But what it boiled down to, was that Naruto didn't feel that desperate need for her approval anymore. He didn't want her to be his 'Sakura-chan' or for her to care for him.

Mainly because he'd come to realize that Sakura had been nothing but his way of trying to beat Sasuke.

Naruto slammed his face into his palms.

He was just as obsessed with Sasuke as Sakura was. But if he was really being honest he did have an excuse. Sasuke was one of the few people who didn't only understand what it was like to be alone but who understood what it was like to be living with a deep-seated hatred every day.

But the actions he took? Naruto didn't hate Sasuke for defecting or trying to kill him, rather he understood just how selfish his actions were. He's seen Kakashi use that jutsu enough times to know how lethal it was. Every time his sensei had pulled it out in front of him, it always resulted in death. The only reason he was still present was because he was a jinchuriki. Such a technique would have certainly killed any of the other retrieval members.

He flinched lightly as the image of him impaled shifted showing each of the members in his place. Chouji, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, Temari, Kankuro…

The only ones who could have survived such a blow were him and Gaara, and he wasn't very certain on the latter's chances given he hadn't taken a normal one too well, much less one powered up by the Cursed Seal.

And then there was all that his sensei had told him about how sparing Sasuke could have been a costly mistake. Naruto had connected the dots and realized he was implying that he could become the next Orochimaru. Itachi was so damn strong, so it wouldn't be a stretch for Sasuke to get close. And what if one day he decided the village had wronged him in some way and he declared vengeance on it? With the single-minded focus he showed in his vengeance against Itachi, it made Naruto feel very uneasy.

But then there was also the fact that he'd been able to stray the likes of Zabuza, Neji and Gaara from their paths. They all were similarly controlled by their darkness but had seen the error in their path. Couldn't the same happen to Sasuke who was on such a path? Didn't he still have a chance at redemption?

…

Whatever decision he made regarding Sasuke, it would have to wait. His feelings on his friendship with him and whether he deserved redemption or not were issues that could wait until later. For now, he'd have to focus on getting strong. Strong enough to accomplish his goals and keep everybody safe.

Which meant he'd have to focus even harder than he was now. No begging for cool jutsu, not expecting to be told what to do and especially not slacking off to daydream. He had training to do and just like Jiraiya-sensei told him, he would have to put everything he had into it.

It was time for Uzumaki Naruto to grow up.

* * *

**And there we have the second chapter.**

**I've tried my best to portray the exact kind off Naruto I want for my story. He's basically the same person from canon; friendly, outgoing and cheerful. Except there's going to be an _actual _difference in his maturity and strength when he returns. Shippuden really put me off sometimes with its attempted comedy. Sure, it's funny…once or twice but it got old soon. Overreacting and acting stupid should have been phased out completely for a better brand of humor that's used just to break away from the grit that the show seemed to be pushing for. Seeing Sakura knock his teeth out got _real_ boring and pissing off a few episodes into part one. **

**Now two of the most important issues. First, bashing. I think bashing is lazy writing. Yes, sometimes people do shitty things but if the motivations behind their actions are explained and put into context then it gives room for character development. For instance, Sakura hit Naruto because it was the only way she got confidence from all the taunting and mockery she received from her classmates. It wasn't right to do so, but to her it was the only way to cope. She was a child and she didn't understand how wrong it was. Naruto recognized this and chose to forgive her.**


	3. Chapter 3: Three Teammates

**Choices: **

**Please read the AN's at the beginning if you can since they're relevant to the story. **

**Sorry, had to reupload this because I forgot page breaks and missed out a very important paragraph.**

**I'm back guys! There's been a gap of few months and Naruto's been training very hard. But this chapter isn't just about him. There were always comparisons between team seven and the Sannin, something that I want to explore more in this story. This is a parallel between the three teammates of both generations.**

**I want to take a minute to acknowledge the reviews I've received. Thanks a lot for the constructive feedback and it has really helped me with frame this and the upcoming chapters.**

**Zabzab: I felt that resolving it in the same chapter would be a bit too soon and wouldn't give scope for more extensive character development. But I definitely see that the interactions were rushed. I really love Gaara and I wished he had more screen-time. I'm probably going to dedicate a whole chapter just for Naruto and Gaara interacting. **

**Slythfoxx2: I just want to say I'm a huge fan of your work and some of the elements were inspired by your works 'Unforgiveable Mistake' and 'Sucker's Bet'. I sometimes forget that Naruto was twelve at the time this started. I tried my best to address Kakashi's poor leadership, but I'm not sure how effective it is. But Kakashi gets his comeuppance (sort of) in this chapter. **

**A guest reviewer pointed out that I messed up the power scaling. What Kakashi said was meant to motivate Naruto to work harder. I don't believe in linear power scale, where A always beats B simply because they are 'stronger'. Like Kakashi was supposed to be stronger than Zabuza with the Sharingan and all but the battles were affected by intel, circumstance and environment. **

**Finally, as for pairings…that is not my focus. I don't want to veer the focus of the story just to force two people together. Naruto will date different people and have relationships, but this will be secondary to the main plot which is Naruto trying to become a strong ninja. It will affect his development, but it's something that I'll come up with as I go along. I am a fan of certain non-canon pairings.**

**Hope you guys enjoy**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto. All I own is this notepad ='(**

**Chapter 3: Three Teammates**

**Year 15, March 8****th****:**

"_Alright get to work" Kakashi said._

"_Wait! Sensei can you tell me how to do it again?!" Naruto yelled to his slowly retreating sensei but all he was met with was a hard hit to the head. He winced lightly and turned around._

"_God you're such an idiot Naruto! Don't you pay attention at all!"_

"_I did pay attention! I just don't get it!"_

"_Hn, figures…idiot"_

"_Grrr! Shut up Sasuke!" Naruto growled but in response he was hit over the head again._

"_Don't yell at him Naruto-baka! God why can't you act more like him?!"_

"_Why do you…" but he trailed off realizing Sakura had begun to run after Sasuke again._

_Meanwhile Kakashi remained standing to the side staring at the scene. He sighed lightly before walking away…_

_A sudden flash of white occurred._

**Year 15, March 8****th****:**

**Border between Hi no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni:**

**Naruto**

He sat up slowly just as his eyes opened up. That dream…it was a pretty accurate representation of his time in team 7.

Despite having left the village for over a year, he found himself going back to his time in team seven. He had thought he had resolved all issues he had with his team for now, but it was evident that he hadn't yet.

Thinking back to it the problem was he had let all three of them off the hook far too easily and far too often.

Sakura was the easiest to forgive, even though he felt she didn't earn it.

There was a lot of things about Sakura that really pissed him off.

One of the biggest would have to be how much she took her parents for granted. She always had some trivial complaints about them or would just call them annoying. She did this despite knowing that the three other members of team seven were all orphaned. How on Earth could somebody complain about having parents? About having a family? He hated that she took it for granted, when there were so many orphaned children in Konoha. It just highlighted the thing he hated the most about her, just how insensitive she was.

It was always exaggerated around him because she seemed to go out of her way to be rude to him. She'd act all 'nice' around him occasionally claiming she felt bad. It was condescending and humiliating, something she refused to see no matter how much Naruto told her it wasn't necessary.

The problem with Sakura was that she just loved interfering with him. She claimed she wanted nothing to do with him, but she'd drop everything to berate him at a moment's notice. Even after he'd stopped asking her out, she still continued this habit.

Would it have mattered if he protested it from the start? He didn't know but what he did know was he wouldn't take such treatment from her again. Maybe that was the reason she continued doing it…since he never fought back she just continued. Whatever the reason, he'd just have to start standing up for himself and stop taking people's crap.

And he had to stop letting positions stop him from calling out people. He never called out Kakashi because he thought it was wrong to do so to one's sensei. He respected him a lot and he thought he was the coolest, but the simple fact was Kakashi had screwed him over, something which he himself acknowledged. He couldn't hate the guy for the life of him. He would always remember how fiercely he fought Zabuza to defend them.

But the simple fact was that their relationship wasn't that of equals. Kakashi was the adult and the superior officer. He was meant to be the responsible one, he was meant to help him grow and mature. Instead he held an unfair expectation for Naruto to do it himself. He did the same thing with Sakura, but he never expressed any disappointment when she messed up, that was the part that killed him. Because of that he always would relegate him to go back to basics and work on the same old things, the very things he would practice for hours each night after team missions. He had always wanted him to acknowledge he was improving but it only happened when he came through in life-or-death situations.

He really should have held Kakashi more accountable and squeezed out every jutsu he can from him…which he reminded himself to do when he got back. Even though he got along better with Kakashi than Sakura, he held him more accountable simply because he was an adult and a jonin. Sakura was the same age as him and had just become a ninja, so it was unfair to hold her to the same standard.

But that didn't excuse Sasuke. Not. One. Bit!

Sasuke had tried to kill him for heaven's sake! The guy called him his best friend then tried to end him! He had gone on and on about how killing him would sever their bond, giving him some magical boost in power apparently.

Despite that, a part of Naruto kept wanting to forgive him. A small part of him kept wanting to 'understand' him and his pain and this annoyed him to no end.

Sasuke had never made the slightest effort to empathize with him. Naruto had come to realize that all he had meant to Sasuke was a measuring stick, somebody who he could compare himself to but only so far as he was weaker than him.

_That _was not friendship!

Lee was a friend. He understood what it was like to be an mocked and ridiculed. He always made an effort to cheer him up and never mocked him, no matter how badly he messed up.

Shikamaru was a friend. Despite his dismissive nature, he always made an effort to help him out wherever he could. He could always count on him to have his back.

What about Sasuke? All he ever did was mock him and always put him down. Sure he'd had his back in dangerous situations, but it always came at the cost of him doing something reckless or stupid when his ego got bruised.

Sakura had called his rivalry with Sasuke petty but so what?! He had a right to be petty when the guy put you down every thirty seconds and acted like he was so far above everybody. Heck, that was what his whole life was built on. 'Let it go, they're suffering, you shouldn't blame them for it'.

Maybe it was ok to an extent but people were more than happy to take advantage of it. The villagers were more than happy to use him as their scapegoat. They took comfort in the fact that he wouldn't retaliate. He should have retaliated. They didn't have the right to act scared or judge him because he did. He didn't have to be afraid of that. Having time away from the village really helped him realize that. Nobody had the right to mistreat him and expect him not to give it back. If they cried harm and foul, well it was their own damn fault.

And Tsunade was Hokage now, not the Sandaime. She would back him up no matter what. He was a hundred percent confident that even if he murdered somebody for no reason, she would defend him till the end.

Oh, and he was going to give it back to them all real bad when he got back. He was looking forward to it.

It wasn't selfish at all. He endured their crap for twelve years. That was more than enough time for people to get over their loss and it was never a valid excuse to begin with. The real selfish thing would be invalidating the sacrifice his parents made by continuing to be overly altruistic and making himself miserable and stunting his growth, just so that people wouldn't get upset with him.

_His _parents died to keep him alive. _His_ father was doomed to eternal torment within the Shinigami's stomach after sealing the entire power of the Kyuubi within him. It was this painful reminder that got him focused every morning. He stared into the mirror watching his face transform. Initially reflective and somewhat lost, it sharpened – a sense of raw determination and focus to reach his goal.

To become the strongest ninja in the world.

* * *

**Jiraiya:**

If somebody had come to him a little over a year ago and told him that this would be his routine, Jiraiya would have laughed his heart out.

But the reality was that it was inevitable, a consequence of his own irresponsibility. Every day, Naruto trained with incredible discipline and dedication. Every second, every day, every week – was planned out. When he trained, there were no distractions and his entire being would go into it. Thankfully he had enough sense to take breaks.

As for Jiraiya, he was taking his role as a teacher very seriously. He actually stuck around watching Naruto's progress, intervening when he was making any significant mistakes and providing all the support he could. It was very different than the approach that he had taken with Minato, with who he'd leave training material to work with and return a few hours later to check his progress.

Based on what he'd gathered, Naruto had faced a problem with all his teachers. This wasn't his fault at all, since Jiraiya knew this entire issue was because of the clusterfuck created by him, the Sandaime and Kakashi.

Right before Naruto's entry into the Academy, he and his sensei had planned out Naruto's entire shinobi career.

He was to join the Academy at six. Sarutobi was to watch over his progress and provide nudges here and there to help him graduate as one of the top placed rookies by the age of ten. Following this Kakashi would take him under his wing and help him make chunin rank by thirteen when the exams happened in Konoha. After this Jiraiya would offer him apprenticeship where he would help him gain jonin level skills and master the Kyuubi's chakra. Following this they'd begin training him to be the next Hokage…

He had never felt like a bigger idiot. There were far too many holes in such a plan. It was based off nothing but wishful thinking. No analysis, no method, no evaluations. They just expected everything to fall into place.

Naruto paid for it. He was left at the hands of the ignorant Academy instructors, who would simply ignore him. A glance at Naruto's Academy records would reveal he started off rather well in the Academy. He wasn't the top but he was well above average, which spoke volumes of his ability since he had no prior training. But he faced a rather drastic slump and he had become the lowest ranked student well before the end of the first year.

He had never bought the explanation that Naruto had started to find the material to complex and was incapable of following. It didn't add up with any of the other things he had done. Learning the Kage Bunshin in a single night, mastering the Henge to the point that he could effectively mask himself from elite jonin, learning the tree walking exercise in three days despite having Kage level reserves and finally mastering the Rasengan in a week. What it pointed to was, that Naruto simply lacked the motivation to do well in the Academy. When he asked Naruto about it, his response had left him feeling slightly sick-

_What the hell was the point in trying? The better I did, the more questions I asked…they'd just be twice as harsh with me. They'd kick me out of class, bruise me up in a taijutsu bout, look for any excuse to make me feel like crap…it just wasn't worth it_

The fact that Academy instructors behaved that way put him off. The Academy even during the more militaristic years, was somewhere where all students felt safe and welcome. Jiraiya had nothing but great memories from his time at the Academy. If a place filled with ninjas, people who had knowledge of sealing and chakra did such a things, he didn't want to know what happened to Naruto through his childhood. Even his best estimates were rather grim…

Despite having a rather healthy relationship, Jiraiya knew he would permanently be on thin ice around him. Trying to pry something of that nature would be the push needed to break it. The only person with hope of possibly getting it out of him was Tsunade. But he knew her well enough to know that she would leave it alone.

But this made Jiraiya somewhat uneasy. His loyalty to the village had always been unquestioned, but with light of what Naruto had turned into, had he been fighting for a lie all these years? Was the 'Will of Fire' simply propaganda used to gain the loyalty of their shinobi?

After decades of being assured in what it was, he was losing sleep over it. He was afraid of asking Naruto, because he had an inkling that his instincts would force him to defend the village for their actions despite knowing how wrong it was.

He wouldn't risk alienating Naruto at such a stage. Despite everything he had put him through, he still needed him, and he needed him the most right now. He was still very young and there was a lot he had to still learn about the world. It was Jiraiya's responsibility to look after Naruto these three years and to help him grow into the man he was destined to be.

And for the first time in his life, Jiraiya stepped up when he was needed the most.

* * *

Naruto fell to the ground exhausted, "Almost…had…you…this time…" he managed out between breaths.

Jiraiya smiled lightly as he tried to catch his breath, "Normally…I'd laugh it off…but…you gave me a…good run for my money kid…"

He perked up instantly, "Really?"

"Yup! You're coordinating your clones effectively, you've got the strength and speed to cause some damage and all your techniques are perfectly adapted for your combat style"

"I've literally got fuck all for techniques. Kage Bunshin, Shuriken Kage Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Rasengan, Orioke, Shunshin and taijutsu. A lot of good that'll do me" he grumbled.

"Don't be like that. Tell you what, how about you spend the next couple of months picking up nature transformation? I know a couple of Futon techniques which should be useful"

"Can't I just learn the techniques?"

"You can, but it would be counterproductive. If you learn nature transformation, learning the jutsu will be a simple matter of practicing and you can even invent your own techniques since you have so much chakra"

"If you say so…how do I get started?"

"The first exercise is cutting a leaf cleanly in half using your chakra. The second is splitting a waterfall. Thankfully both Minato and Kushina were Futon natured so I know of these exercises"

"Both of them huh? So your affinities get passed down?"

"If I remember correctly, it's sometimes affected by the environment you grow up in but you have a tendency to develop the same affinities as your parents. You should ask Tsunade about this stuff, she's the expert"

"Well, better get started then"

"Call if you need any help"

"Wait…I wanted to ask you something"

"Ask away"

He took a breath, "This is kind off personal but…did you ever think about forgiving Orochimaru?"

"I see…some part of you is trying to rationalize what the Uchiha boy did…right?"

"Yeah…I shouldn't want to. He tried to kill me…I'm afraid if I can forgive that, I'll keep being everybody's punching bag"

"Well…it's a valid concern. But you shouldn't worry too much about it since it's quite normal"

"So you felt that way too?"

"Believe me kid I did. Unlike you I believed those rationalizations for a few years. I thought it was a huge misunderstanding and everything could be settled. Even after I realized that he had turned into a twisted psychopath, I still wished there was a way for everything to go back the way it was. It can't be helped. Those bonds that we shared were real no matter how much we say otherwise. It's just human nature to try and defend those we once cared about…but I have complete faith that you'll do the right thing when you run into him the next time"

"…so Orochimaru really was your best friend?"

"He was…he wasn't always like this. He had a dark and sadistic side sure, but he was somewhat caring and considerate in his own way. You might just see a freak and a monster, but he was once just as human as you or I. A brilliant one too. He really could have been a great Hokage…Sarutobi-sensei blamed himself for years because of that"

"I get that he was his sensei, but it couldn't have been his fault…right?"

"It was different with us. He had begun to train Orochimaru to be his successor the minute he was put on his team. He trained and raised him to be a Hokage, but he ended up turning into a sick and deranged psychopath who took pleasure in experimenting on people for his own selfish desires. After that happened he did everything in his power to stop another Orochimaru from arising"

"Is that why he always told me not to fight back if I was abused? He was afraid that I'd become the next Orochimaru"

Jiraiya sighed, "He was…you have to understand that you're the Kyuubi jinchuriki and the child of two of Konoha's most powerful shinobi. He decided to play cautious with you and mold you into a loyal shinobi of the village"

"I see…"

"Look, you may have learned things that you don't like and that paint a bad image of sensei but for all his mistakes he really did care for you kid. He tried to the best of his abilities to care for you and balance his duties as Hokage"

"…whatever" he muttered before walking off.

Jiraiya shook his head. It was a shame because what he said was true. It didn't excuse his sensei for what he did, but he really hoped that Naruto would find it in him to forgive him. But it looked unlikely…

Maybe it was for the best? Instead of blindly forgiving everybody, he should resent them. Kushina always did say that holding in her emotions made it harder for her to control the Kyuubi. He chose to trust in Naruto's instincts and really hoped that everything would end up working out.

* * *

**Konohagakure, residential district:**

**Sakura**

She shot up instantly.

That memory…it felt so far away but she remembered it very vividly. She really did miss the old days…

What surprised her the most was that she really missed Naruto. She used to find his energy obnoxious and really annoying, but now she began to realize that it just made the day seem more alive. And it wasn't just her. Konoha in general just felt so much duller.

When news spread that Naruto had been trained by Jiraiya of the Sannin for the chunin exam finals…there was expectedly a lot of skepticism. Nobody would believe that Uzumaki Naruto of all people was taken under the wing of one of Konoha's greatest shinobi.

But then there was the fact that he had beaten Neji. To many people he had only pulled that off since he had trained under a Sannin. It made sense after all! He had beaten the Hyuuga prodigy after struggling to get past Kiba. And then there was the fact he had beaten Sabaku no Gaara, not Sasuke. It had been confirmed by Temari herself and Sakura knew the Suna kunoichi wouldn't lie about such a thing.

This was before he had left to train for three years. This had given all the Rookies a strange level of motivation to work harder. Everybody had been trained incredibly hard for the chunin exams they just took a few months prior in Suna.

But Sakura had a very different motivation.

All she wanted was to save her Sasuke-kun. Everything could have been traced back to the day he got the Curse Seal from Orochimaru. Everything had changed after that…

She remembered in her early days at the Academy, how everybody was instantly drawn towards Uchiha Sasuke. He was cool, talented, good-looking and came from one of the most powerful clans in the world. She found herself drawn to him from the moment she'd come to know of his existence.

But things began to change after that. With the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke had begun to grow a bit distant. Everybody had come to one single conclusion.

This was the best time to win Sasuke's heart.

There had been fierce competition to gain his attention. Fierce to the point that they had begun to break their friendships apart, much like she and Ino had. But nobody had even the slightest amount of success. Sasuke remained as stoic and indifferent as ever.

But that all changed when she was put on the same team as him. She believed it was a sign, that perhaps she truly could win his heart.

She had thought she was getting closer to Sasuke. She thought that she was finally beginning to chip away at that coat of apathy he wore. These thoughts especially surfaced during difficult missions…

But then right after everything would return just to normal. Sasuke would just continued to ignore her and act as distant as ever, sometimes even more so.

It left her in a constant state of ambiguity, since she could never really tell how he felt about her…but that was until that night…

It was the worst and best night of her life. Sasuke abandoned the village but at the same time…he thanked her! He thanked her!

That had to mean something…right? He wouldn't thank her unless he felt something for her. Maybe she was overthinking this, but she had to believe that Sasuke meant it. Because it was what pushed her everyday, it was what made her study hard under Tsunade.

Because she would give everything she had to save her love.

* * *

**Tsunade**

Tsunade watched silently as Ino and Sakura tried their best not to snipe at each other inside the hospital's library.

It had been an interesting year and a half…so much had changed in the mere year and a half that Naruto had been gone from the village.

First the fact that she'd taken on Sakura as a full time apprentice and Ino as an occasional student. It had turned out very different than what she had expected. When Sakura first approached her, she'd been rather impressed with how forward she was. It took a lot of guts to walk up to the Hokage and request to be their student. After reviewing her files and finding a plethora of evidence that she possessed prodigious levels of chakra control, she accepted her as her apprentice.

Sakura had made great progress under her, but it wasn't to the level she had expected. She was a Sannin and she wanted Sakura to be a whole lot stronger than her peers not as strong as them. Being the apprentice of the Hokage meant she could be used for both intel as well as a bargaining chip by other villages.

Sakura had to become a lot stronger but there were two major issues.

The first was barely at genin level when she first began training under her. Very basic taijutsu, poor conditioning, no additional ninjutsu or genjutsu in her repertoire and complete lack of combat awareness. It was understandable in the first couple of months as a genin, given they were young and inexperienced but when she was a genin for almost a year and showing some form of motivation towards improving, the problems all pointed to one individual.

Her jonin sensei.

For the life of her Tsunade couldn't understand what compelled her sensei to make Hatake Kakashi a jonin instructor. His efforts with team seven had been…disturbing.

She hadn't been pleased with him based on what Naruto had told her, but when she found out he had stalled Sakura's progress as well she had been furious. She remembered that particular conversation very clearly-

"_Let me get this straight…so you prioritize making a cohesive team by completely ignoring their skills and growth? Kakashi are you twelve years old?! What is wrong with you?!" she snapped._

_Kakashi sighed, "I have no excuses Hokage-sama. I truly believed it was the correct path to go forward. In my eyes, it was fair if I didn't train any of them"_

"_Fairness is based on who needed it the most. The Uchiha boy had a whole clan's library and training since his youth. What did the other two have? Sakura a civilian girl and Naruto an isolated orphan. They needed twice the attention as the average genin"_

_Kakashi wisely remained silent._

"_Look…I'm taking over Sakura's training now so there isn't much that can be done. When Naruto gets back, you will be leading him and Sakura on missions again. There's still a lot they both have to learn and despite everything I still trust you to watch over them. You're the adult so you better act like one and take up responsibility "_

"_I understand…"_

"_Oh no! You're not the hook that easy. You're going to be doing D-rank missions whenever you're off duty for the next three months without pay"_

_Kakashi sighed, "Very well Hokage-sama"_

The punishment had been humiliating and painful for the jonin but he had completed it without complaint. Though it still didn't change the issue she had.

She had to train Sakura to be a kunoichi.

Having Ino along certainly helped, but it was proving an incredibly difficult task. Sakura while incredibly talented, was at the same time incredibly naïve, lacked the right kind off motivation and had a lot of misconceptions about the shinobi world. Having Ino, a clan heir who'd begun to get her act together, had really helped Sakura start growing but there was a major issue.

Sakura was by far the weakest genin in the village. She held the belief that she were one of the strongest among their peers.

…

It had really worried her a lot. Overconfidence was the worst enemy of a ninja. Physically, Sakura was far below par. She wasn't confident of her chances in beating a gang of bandits, a common occurrence during missions. It gave her nightmares thinking of what would happen to a young girl like her if she was ever captured…

Such a fate was worse than death.

It had taken time and a lot of work, but it was beginning to show. She was a solid chunin level shinobi, which she had been immensely proud off. But she was prouder of her progress with iryo-ninjutsu. She was truly gifted in terms of chakra control and was making great strides as her apprentice.

Despite this, she was also somewhat frustrated. Sakura was dedicated and focused, sure but she had a terrible tendency to stagnate. She never trained on her own time, preferring to hang out with friends or study the same old material again and again.

The problem lied in Sakura's motivation. She was training hard because she wanted to 'save' the Uchiha. But the only way it fit into her fantasy was that she'd save him through the power of love. She never said this out loud, only admitting that she wanted to be strong enough to walk in front of Naruto and Sasuke. It was infuriating because she wasn't willing to give her all into doing it. It was almost as though she believed it would simply happen by saying it would.

The problem was that Sakura was disheartened far too easily. It wasn't easy for her, but Tsunade had to do her best to not be too negative. While Sakura did have a lot of problems as of right now, she had immense potential.

She was going to give her all to make sure Sakura achieved it because she had finally found somebody who could take her throne as the strongest kunoichi in the world.

* * *

"Sakura, come here!" Tsunade called out.

"You needed me shishou?"

"Could you organize these files in the archives?"

"Of course. I'll get to it right now"

Sakura picked up the box of files and briskly walked into the room. As she placed the files, a realization hit her.

She was in the most secure room within Konoha…there was information here that even jonin may not know. And she was all alone in here with no security. She glanced around the corner determining nobody was watching her. There'd be no harm if she had a quick look in one of the files right?

She went towards the U section and slowly scanned through it.

There!

She gingerly pulled out the file…

Uzumaki Naruto

Her eyebrow furrowed upon seeing the red stamps all over and the number of pages in the file. Just another mystery in the enigma that was her teammate. She opened up the page and began to read but stopped almost instantly. Her eyes remained fixed on one set of words, her heart beating wildly and her mind frozen in complete shock.

She was so shocked she didn't notice somebody move into the room, "Sakura! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Sh-shishou?! Naruto-he's…Naruto-Kyuubi-it doesn't…what?!"

Her outburst was broken when her arm was gripped tightly and she was pulled out of the room rather forcefully. The next few minutes were a blur, at the end of which she found herself sitting down in a seat in an empty room with Tsunade staring her down with a fearsome glare.

"Sakura…what on Earth do you think you were doing?" she asked trying to keep her calm.

"I…I'm sorry…" she said quietly

Tsunade took a deep breath, "Sakura…what you did was incredibly foolish. Some of the information in there could start the next war if it leaked out"

"I wouldn't tell anybody"

"But it can be extracted from you by interrogation, extortion, drugging or even on accident. All it takes is one slip to start a leak. How can you expect me to trust you now?"

Sakura hung her head choosing to remain silent. But she did eventually speak, "Shishou…what is a jinchuriki?"

Tsunade sighed, "I figured this would come up eventually…jinchuriki literally means the power of human sacrifice. This term is used to describe a very specific set of people…those who have bijuu sealed within them"

"Bijuu like the Kyuubi…which means that Naruto is…"

She nodded grimly, "Yes, Naruto is the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko…as powerful as the Yondaime was, even he couldn't kill the Kyuubi. It's a mass of malevolent chakra and it simply can't be destroyed. Having no other way, he was forced to seal it within a living being to contain…that container happens to be Naruto"

"So that's why…"

"There are some who truly believe that Naruto is the Kyuubi reborn. It's based on nothing more than fear and irrationality. Most have been…dealt with, so the only reason still remaining is that most people simply didn't trust a child to contain such a mighty beast"

This proved too much for her as she yelled out, "But why Naruto?! What on Earth did he do to deserve this?! He had nobody! Just…I used to call him a pest…" she mumbled as she began to sob.

Tsunade pulled Sakura into a hug, "The life of a jinchuriki…is difficult. Fear and misunderstanding causes people to push them away. The fact that you understand he's just as human as us is a good sign…if you really intend to make it up to him, then treat him as an equal, not somebody who's meant to always be beneath you"

"And it'll be ok just like that?"

"I can't say anything for certain…but Naruto is a good judge of character and intentions. If you really are genuine about making it up to him, he won't turn you away"

"Thank you shishou…" she whispered, "I still don't understand one thing though…"

"What is it?"

"Why on Earth would people subject others to something like that? Why would anybody willingly seal away a bijuu into a person?"

"Because jinchuriki are typically made to be weapons of war"

"W-w-what?"

Tsunade shook her head, "It's a product of all the war and conflict…each nation looks for a way to offset the balance of power in their favor. They do this by creating new techniques or training better shinobi or employing different tactice, I think you get the idea. The bijuu are massive masses of chakra, the tool we use for all our shinobi arts. If a ninja were to harness all this power, in theory they would become an unstoppable juggernaut and could easily wipe even the strongest army

"But…"

"Most jinchuriki end up plagued with mental instability, insanity and even possessed by their prisoners. The push to turn into weapons often weakens their minds and they tend to turn violent…almost feral. The Godaime Kazekage, Gaara, is a the jinchuriki of the Ichibi"

Her eyes nearly shot out of her head. It was shocking but at the same time made so much sense.

"So, Naruto could have turned out like that? A complete psychopath, who just kills for pleasure"

"It's hard to say Sakura. The fact that Naruto isn't the slightest bit deranged after facing abuse for twelve years should say something about it. But it could have taken just one bad choice. If everything happened to him had got to him and pushed him to choose a path filled with hatred, things would have been very different today"

"I see…"

"Though…he'd be glad to know that there's somebody his age that accepts him for who he is, not for what's inside him. Trust me Sakura everything will be alright"

"I don't know…"

"I don't believe I'm going to say this but…believe it!"

Sakura stared at her for a minute before they both burst out into laughs. She felt a load fall off her back with this. Maybe everything really would be alright…and she'd do everything she could to stand by Naruto's side and make it happen.

* * *

**Hidden Base Oni no Kuni**

**Sasuke**

His eyes shot open and instantly he felt a wave of irritation pass over him. No matter how much he tried he always kept going back to those damn memories.

Memories of his _former _team.

Every time he thought he had finally forgot about them, they would resurface. They really were a bunch of pests, never leaving him alone in peace. No doubt they would be training hard to 'save him from the darkness'…

They made him sick.

Naruto and Sakura would always remain beneath him no matter what. They were both weak and nothing but pests in his eye. They'd just keep chasing after him, never leaving him alone. They would never understand what he had suffered and the thought that they said they could just infuriated him.

He was an avenger and now…he would crush anybody who got in his way…

And this was why he hated thinking about his former team. It always got his blood boiling and he hated it because to him it signaled some sort of attachment.

He couldn't have that! It was a distraction and he couldn't afford it.

He glanced around his room. It was dark. Most of Orochimaru's bases were barely lit, since it made it difficult for intruders and prisoners to navigate. They were typically lined with few wooden torches giving it a rather archaic feeling. His room was bare of any sort of decoration or personalization, leaving it rather bare. The walls were made off slightly worn clay, bits of gravel and dirt strewn about the floor. There was a single bed, just big enough to fit one person and with plain white sheets. The only evidence that Sasuke had stayed in the room was the presence of weapons and training scrolls neatly tucked away in one corner.

It was a far cry from the rather luxurious life he lived in Konoha. Even after his clan's demise, he lived in a rather high-end two-bedroom apartment he had all to himself. At times he found himself annoyed with the standard of living in Orochimaru's bases. It was beneath somebody like him…

Worst of all though was that he always had to keep his guard up. Nobody could be trusted in any of his bases.

Orochimaru wanted to possess his body and there was little stopping him from doing it on a whim. The only reason he hadn't done so yet was because he wanted to perfect his future vessel. If he decided he wanted to take over Sasuke's body today, there was little he could do since he wasn't even close to challenging the Sannin. Despite what he had told Naruto, he fully intended to carry out his vengeance himself.

Then there was Kabuto. While he claimed to loyally serve Orochimaru, it was evident that he ha his own motives. He was especially dangerous, since Orochimaru would occasionally listen to his suggestions and he was far more cautious than the Sannin when it came to Sasuke. Kabuto was far more likely to be suspicious and would probably see through his plans. Kabuto couldn't do much in stopping him but with Orochimaru to back him up, it would put him in a tight spot. Plus, the bastard was slippery and could hold his own in a battle.

Outside those two he was basically a walking target.

Most of the prisoners and shinobi were just waiting to take a shot at him. The only reason Orochimaru hadn't intervened was because he found the entire thing rather amusing. It wasn't! The maniac stood by watching him as he suffocated from his poison laced meal.

The whole thing had made him far more cautious and showed him just how naïve he was.

But this didn't even come close to the absolute worst thing about Oto.

When he was in Konoha, he had absolutely loathed his fangirls. They were annoying, constantly pestering him and he just hated the way they tried to smother him with their affection.

But they didn't even come close to the crazy Oto girls. Forward was a bit of an understatement when it came to them. It was clear to him quite early on that they had been tasked with getting pregnant, either with promises of freedom or just because they were fanatical followers of Orochimaru and did anything he asked for.

Regardless, this meant that there was nobody he could trust…but wasn't this the path he wished for. One where he was alone, without anybody to hold him back…

…

It didn't matter. This was a sacrifice he was willing to make in the pursuit for his vengeance. Nothing else mattered anymore.

Not the crappy standard of living, not the lack of allies, not the growing hatred he felt…

Nothing

* * *

**Orochimaru**

Contrary to what many people believed, Orochimaru was actually a very happy person. He truly enjoyed what he did and didn't have many regrets.

Of course, one would have to account for the fact that he was a sadistic, homicidal psychopath.

Human beings were truly amusing creatures. So much time and energy was wasted on meaningless pursuits and emotions. Ultimately everything they did was invalidated by the fact that they died.

His former sensei always preached on the importance of the next generation, but Orochimaru could never quite grasp it.

What was the point?

In a world filled with so many mysteries, why would one willingly subject their limited time to the care of another? In the end they were all going to die anyways, and they couldn't possibly hope to match up to his genius.

When Anko was his student, he saw immense promise in her, but he came to realize that she may never surpass him.

He was the only one who could discover all the secrets of this world. He was the only one who could. But even with his genius, time was against him. There was only so much that could be achieved even in a century of life. There had to be a way around it…

This stirred him towards his path of realizing immortality. It was painstaking and had become his sole focus for the last decade, but it was all geared towards achieving something much greater. As an immortal, he would uncover every last stone and mystery of the world.

The bridge to that dream was now the Sharingan.

He had watched Itachi through the first few years of his shinobi career. He had become enthralled with how skillfully he used it. The abilities it granted him, took a talented boy and turned him into a near perfect shinobi at such a tender age. Now imagine what he could do with it?

To be able to learn jutsu instantaneously? To have such an intimate understanding of chakra? To capture the most minute details with ease?

It made him giddy with glee every time he thought of possessing those eyes.

He really had to thank Itachi. He had made Sasuke far too easy to manipulate. Sasuke was so blinded by his vengeance for Itachi that he would literally leap into a snake's pit. The fools in Konoha were too constrained by their moral obligations and concern, causing them to discourage Sasuke's path.

So to get him to come to him all he had to do was encourage it. Provide him power, promise him that he would get stronger…it had been child's play getting him there. Now not only would he have the Sharingan, but he would possess a body with incredible physical ability and chakra, one which he had three years to work on to his design. Just a little over eighteen months and he would finally have the Sharingan.

Oh yes…it was going to be sweet.

* * *

Sasuke sat silently watching the drops fall down the IV bag. He was alone inside the dark, dank room receiving his latest treatment of a chakra enhancing substance. He'd gone through many such procedures which had bolstered his physical abilities far beyond anything he'd imagined.

He sensed a movement behind him and sheath his chokuto by his side. Those crazy girls really didn't know when to…

Realizing who was in the room, he was about to charge lightning chakra in his free hand but he was stopped when he felt a powerful pressure bearing down on him. He recognized this technique…

Kanashibari no Jutsu

"Why so aggressive Sasuke-kun? I didn't startle you did I?" Orochimaru asked with fake innocence as he stepped out from the shadows.

"What do you want Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked keeping himself impassive.

Orochimaru chuckled, "Is that any way to talk to your _dear _teacher?"

"Cut the crap…you only talk to me when you want something. So, spit it out"

"How…perceptive of you. Don't move around now or the procedure will fail" he replied lightly as he began to circle Sasuke, who remained tensed up but did not move.

"It appears both your teammates are being trained by both of my own…what do you make of this?"

"Hn, it's inconsequential"

"Is that so? Are you underestimating Tsunade and Jiraiya?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but didn't reply.

"Foolish boy. They are two of the most powerful shinobi in the world. It would take you years to ever match either of them"

"I heard Jiraiya was powerful…but Tsunade? What will she do with her iryo ninjutsu?"

Orochimaru's laugh caused him to scowl, "You really think that low of her? She is incredibly intelligent, has almost unmatched vitality, can kill a jonin with a single finger and heal off anything but a fatal blow. You don't stand a chance"

He barely suppressed his rage, "Whatever…doesn't mean their students will amount to anything"

"If that pink haired girl becomes even a quarter as strong as Tsunade, she will be a very real threat…as for Naruto-kun? He is already stronger than you"

"Stronger than me? The fact that I'm here says otherwise" he growled.

"Oh is that why you spared him?" he asked mockingly, "I was under the impression that your ego was bruised since he was stronger than you when you fought in the Valley of the End"

"Shut…up…"

His laugh rung in his ears as he continued to speak condescendingly, "I could sense the Kyuubi's chakra all the way from my base. If he was using that much…then even Kimimaro at his peak would've fallen. And you just surpassed him…do you know what that means Sasuke-kun?"

His Sharingan spun to life as he grit his teeth tightly.

"He…held back…hehehe" with that he was gone.

Sasuke stared at the ground before grabbing the needle and pulling it out. He shunshined into a practice room filled with numerous wooden mannequins. His sword in hand he charged them. For an hour he swung and hacked every piece until all that was left was splinters. Scratch marks were present all over the floor and walls.

He stared at the reflection he saw in the face of his blade. His face twisted with rage, his eyes glowing ominously and his teeth almost bared. His face captured just how much rage his body was experiencing. It was so strong he could feel his Curse Seal pulse and heat radiate off his skin.

Orochimaru was well aware how much he had worked to suppress the events of that day. Yet the callous bastard so casually kicked it open, only to let him wallow in those insecurities.

Naruto could have killed him three times over that day! It was the only reason that he was standing, not because of his strength.

It was unacceptable!

Such a thing occurring meant that Naruto wasn't beneath him. That couldn't happen. The only way things would be set right was for Sasuke to return the favor. To beat him down and spare his life.

To let him…live in an unsightly manner as he had…

Itachi had always been his goal. The singular entity that pushed him day in and day out to work to the bone, to gain all the power he could to take him down…but there were two more people on that list now.

Before Itachi, Orochimaru would fall and after Itachi, Naruto would fall. They would taste his vengeance and regret crossing him.

He swore on it, because that was _his _ninja way.

**Well there it is! It took a while to write this down, but hopefully the next couple of chapters will come through quicker. I tried to be subtle while showing a parallel between the Sannin and team seven. So please let me know if it worked out.**

**I will be back soon with the next chapter. It's going to be a fun one…little teaser though.**

**You'll get quite an inside look into two of our favorite characters.**

**Peace out!**


	4. Chapter 4: Power

**Choices:**

**I'm back guys. Sorry it took a while, I've been working on two chapters at the same time. This is the fourth chapter, and this is a bit different from the other three. It's going to be focused quite a bit on everybody's favorite fox. **

**I'm not a huge fan of the instantly friendly Kurama trope. A huge part of Naruto's growth came from his interactions with Kurama. Making him instantly be friendly just feels massively out of character for him and deprives them both of major character development. It's going to be somewhere in between this and canon, where their relationship gradually improves with time. The shift in their relationship is going to happen over years and there will be notable differences.**

**But most importantly, there's going to be some huge retcons in this fic. **

**Number 1: The Sharingan absolutely deserves a nerf. It's still going to be damn powerful but it depends on how skilled the Uchiha who's using it is. For example, Itachi is a very powerful shinobi by himself hence when he uses his Sharingan he seems practically invincible.**

**Number 2: The Akatsuki aren't waiting around for shits and giggles. Yagura was killed sometime towards the end of part 1. The Sanbi is estimated to take about three years to reform. Pein is a perfectionist and wants to have all the bijuu captured within a certain timeframe.**

**Number 3: The entirety of Kyuubi is sealed within Naruto, not half. It was a stupid excuse to give Minato KCM when he was freaking strong enough as it is! Kiiroi Senko, SS-ranked shinobi, sealing master, Yondaime Hokage – nope none of that! Got to give him the same power as Naruto for reasons.**

**There will be several more retcons which I will be mentioning but the above three are the most important. You may not necessarily agree with these retcons, but I truly do believe that they would make this story a lot more compelling and make for more interesting battles.**

**Well here we go!**

**Chapter 4: Power**

*Drip*

A sliver of irritation

*Drip* *Drip*

A low growl

*Drip* *Drip* *Drip*

That was it!

A massive roar ripped through the air, the water swaying behind a set of bars.

What had he done to deserve such a fate?! Locked up within a seal held together by the Shinigami's power, mostly powerless and worst of all part of his chakra slowly being drained out of him every moment.

Typically, it was minute, effectively like a drop pulled out of the ocean but things had changed now. His container had grown immensely in the year and a half. His chakra reserves had swelled massively. Unlike other seals, the seal functioned by siphoning off a minute portion of his chakra and merging it into Naruto's own reserves helping them grow notably beyond its natural rate. With his lineage and intermixing with a bijuu's chakra on top of that, they were swelling at an incredible rate.

As much as he loathed the man, he had to admit that the Yondaime had made brilliant use of both the Shiki Fuujin and Hakke Fuin seals in order to effectively contain him within Naruto.

Due to the size and potency of his chakra, he possessed immunity to many techniques that didn't manipulate matter. Space-time techniques, genjutsu and seals were practically impossible to execute on him because of this, unless the user had such overwhelming skill, such as the Yondaime with the Hiraishin. Within Kushina and Mito, he had been contained primarily through their own unique chakra rather with the seals acting as a supplement to that.

The seal on Naruto however was empowered by the Shinigami. The supernatural power that came at the cost of one's soul allowed the Yondaime to bypass typical limitations that arose due to his power. The seal didn't have to focus on producing a pocket dimension for containment and could work towards keeping him contained.

The Hakke Fuin no Shiki acted as the actual lock to his cage. But seals weakened with time, especially when they interacted with his corrosive chakra. But that's where Naruto's chakra came into play. As it grew in strength and size, it acted as a counterbalance for the natural degradation of the seal. It effectively took up the role of the Hakke Fuin. But that was where an oddity in his chakra arose…

It was commonly thought that human and bijuu chakra acted like oil and water. Despite them both being forms of energy, they were completely immiscible with each other. But Naruto's chakra was different…not only was it enormous and dense, but it was capable of merging with his own in a completely unforeseen manner.

This happened when there was an unknown synchronization between their respective chakras. When he drew his chakra up in a rage, it behaved as it did with all other jinchuriki. The bijuu's chakra overwhelmed the hosts chakra and began circulating within their coils.

But when he retained control…their chakra merged together. Not only did it generate an even stronger chakra but it multiplied his strength instead of simply replacing it with his own.

It was odd because the only synchronization that he was aware that could occur between human and bijuu chakra was when the host felt intense negative emotions. From what he had seen Naruto do, he achieved this resonance when the strength and potency of his chakra matched that of the chakra he gave him through the seal.

But that was irrelevant. It did nothing more than pique his interest and it was best he didn't ponder too much on it.

What was important was that given the current strength of the seal and Naruto's growing reserves, he could only draw upon more chakra when he felt overwhelming rage or hatred…or if he willingly loosened the seal. The former was far more likely given his career as a shinobi. Since the emotions he felt had to be really powerful, the chances of him losing control at any given time were far, far lower than the typical jinchuriki. The seal would of course weaken each time he used Kyuubi's chakra, but the chances of him escaping by overwhelming the seal were slim to none…

At least this was how it was supposed to work in theory.

The simple fact was that the village and the Sandaime's meddling had left quite notable damage on Naruto's psyche.

It hadn't taken very long for Naruto's status to be leaked to the public. He didn't know who was responsible or what was their motive, but the point was that it spread like wildfire. If he had to guess, the word of mouth had distorted facts leading people to come up with wild theories. He knew this because he felt a massive surge of fear and panic within the village soon after he was sealed within the newborn.

The Sandaime had moved to curb any potential riots by officially declaring Naruto's identity as his jailor, making him the first publicly known jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. He remembered laughing his head off when he watched the announcement through his container. The man had literally been stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The village at large remained hostile and indifferent towards him for nearly his entire life. For the most part, he had been spared physical abuse since he always had an ANBU detail guarding him. The problem arose from the mental and emotional abuse he suffered.

People either saw him as the very reason for what occurred, or they feared him for what he was capable of doing. Many tried to justify it stating they had been terrified and scarred by the power the fox had displayed on that single night. But Kyuubi knew better…

Even if he hadn't attacked the village, even if there was no property damage or lives lost, heck if they hadn't even seen him, they still would have treated Naruto the same way.

Why? Given he had outed an Uchiha as the culprit behind his attack.

When he had been released, a masked individual claiming to be Uchiha Madara attempted to control him using his Sharingan.

As if that would happen…

The only doujutsu that could even come close to controlling him was the Rinnegan, given it was the very same eyes that his father possessed.

The _real _Uchiha Madara had tried many decades ago, but had failed miserable. But the man was shrewd. While the Sharingan couldn't control him, it could be used to fool his senses, to plant suggestions within his head. When Madara realized he couldn't control him, he took a different route. Madara had tricked him into believing Senju Hashirama was on his way to capture him, much like he had done to his brethren. He had directed his rage towards the Shodai Hokage and Madara made full use of that, by battling side by side with it.

That memory still made him feel nauseous…he had fought alongside a damned Uchiha…

But the brat from that night? He hadn't been fooled. Not only was his chakra far weaker than Madara's, but given he had tried to control him and gave up when it didn't work...as much as he hated to admit it, Madara was far too intelligent to behave in such a manner.

Having just been released after so many decades of captivity, only to have an Uchiha dare to try and use his eyes on him…

He had become completely overwhelmed with rage. He followed him down towards Konoha and began to hunt for him there. He very clearly remembered himself yelling –

_**SHOW YOURSELF UCHIHA! I'LL RIP THOSE EYES OUT OF YOUR SKULL!**_

If that wasn't evidence enough of who was responsible for what happened, he didn't know what else was. True, the Uchiha clan came under suspicion and he was sure the purge of that accursed clan had to do with false rumors that the Mangekyo could control the bijuu – the fact remained that they still held animosity towards Naruto for what happened.

The circumstances and deaths that night weren't why they feared and hated Naruto. They did so because they had no clue what a jinchuriki really was. They first sought to destroy him, but when they couldn't that they wished to control him. They wanted nothing more than an obedient little attack dog. Seeing him free to do what he wanted unnerved them because he could always choose to retaliate.

The Sandaime may have presented himself as a very grandfatherly figure, but he was a shinobi through and through. He tried to turn Naruto into a loyal defender of their village. One who would listen to his every command without question. Maybe he felt some sort of affection for the boy, but it didn't take away the fact that he chose the easy way.

Instead of bringing an ungrateful village in line, he tried to control a single innocent boy.

That had ended up being the biggest blunder in his entire life.

Naruto had inherited Minato's intelligence and Kushina's stubbornness. Attempts to control and condition him were only going to be met with failure. But the problem was the Sandaime was far more manipulative than one would expect. He hit the bullseye by promising Naruto exactly what he wanted.

Love and acknowledgment.

'Become Hokage' he had told him, 'They are suffering and you must understand them, you must be forgive them and _never_ fight back

It made him want to throw up.

But he wanted those two things more than anything else in the world. He wanted to feel wanted so badly that he had let himself be conditioned. To the point that he even resisted snapping when it was healthier for him than holding back. He had committed himself to achieving this so much that he had used all his willpower to forcibly suppressed his darker emotions that made him want to fight back. It was pushed down so hard, it caused a type of splinter within his soul.

A literal dark side arose calling itself 'Yami Naruto'

Most humans possessed this so called 'darker' side to their soul but for them it was nothing more than a suppressed part. Maybe their insecurities and fears, little dash of envy. But nothing like what Naruto had.

Yami Naruto was filled to the brim with hatred, rage and a desire for vengeance. So caught up in his own suffering that he couldn't function without hurting others. And this was exactly what he needed to circumvent the seal.

It provided a near permanent link between their chakra, since it was linked to his soul as well. Naruto still needed to have an emotional slip to access his chakra, but he could push out far more than one would expect. And the degradation of the seal would occur exponentially since it would effectively be fooled into allowing more than it was supposed to. Naruto would always struggle to contain it because of Yami Naruto. His darkness resonated with the Kyuubi's chakra and strengthened it.

Then Naruto would end up losing it over nothing. Somebody insults his friend and next thing everybody knows, he's gone berserk.

He had been absolutely thrilled watching this occur. This was far better than any traditional way by which bijuu got lose. Nobody would suspect anything was wrong.

All he would need was one go to break out, not constantly showing signs of emergence. It would be impossible to anticipate or stop. His escape was practically assured.

…

Well that was until what had occurred a year and a half ago.

The fight with that Uchiha boy had changed him. All the years of effort that the old monkey had been almost entirely shattered in that single second where he had been stabbed through the chest. He somewhat held onto those notions of 'forgiveness' and 'understanding', but with him away from the village they faded away. He was for the first time in his life an independent person. There was no influence on how he should think or act.

His darker half had found an outlet. His suppressed emotions began to surface in a more tame and constructive manner. When he was younger, he was so conditioned against this that it was near impossible to overcome. But now…

The one who called himself 'Yami Naruto' was fading. Rather he found parts of himself gradually merging with the original. Sure, he'd always have a part of himself that was suppressed, never to be shown to the world but it wouldn't be such an overwhelmingly negative entity.

But this also made it trickier for him to get out. Trickier but not impossible. But this didn't bother him the slightest. Because both he and Naruto were aware of something. They both were aware of a very simple fact.

No matter what Naruto would have to learn to use his chakra. He couldn't help chuckling since it meant one very simple thing...

He was getting out.

* * *

**Year 15 November 8****th**

Naruto quietly strolled through the town's market; his mind lost in thought. He was slowly approaching the two-year mark for his training trip with Jiraiya. He wanted to say that he'd grown a lot stronger, heck he knew that he had but there was a slight problem with that…

He didn't know by how much.

The only person he had to compare his own skills to were Jiraiya.

You know, one of the legendary Sannin, a veteran of four decades, the guy who was supposed to be one of the strongest shinobi in the world.

Yeah…there would be quite a gap for several years to come. It took significant time to build skill and experience was a real game changer. When your techniques and strategies are tried and tested in a hundred battles, they keep evolving and getting better, more refined. While he had faced an abnormally high number of life-or-death situations, he was still relatively inexperienced. Plus given the fact that he'd spent most of his shinobi career out training instead of taking missions, he had that going against him.

The easiest solution to that was to attain overwhelming power. The type with which he could crush all his opponents in a single go.

In other words, the Kyuubi's chakra.

It was incredibly tempting to say the least. On the few occasions he'd used that chakra, he'd felt the unfathomable power the fox possessed. Even when he fought Sasuke, he'd used just a fraction of Kyuubi's chakra, yet he received such an immense power boost.

He always pondered on how different things could be if he could control a larger chunk of chakra. Say enough for him to slaughter an S-ranked shinobi…no training, no stress, no pressure…

Like he said it was damn tempting.

But he wasn't so naïve anymore. There were just too many downsides that came with using the Kyuubi's chakra. Most arose from the fact that he couldn't control it.

He had come close a couple of times after he trained with Jiraiya for the chunin exams. Even then he had to constantly fight down an itch to cut loose. When he was somewhat in control, the chakra added to his own strength acting like a multiplier.

But every other time it overwhelmed him completely. It felt like acid in his veins and he could feel it practically showing down his own chakra. It didn't multiply his own strength, it replaced it with its own. When he wasn't in control, it was a constant war against the Kyuubi's chakra. Every second he just wanted to rip everything in vicinity limb from limb. And this was when he was using such a minute amount.

The possibility of him really losing control and turning feral was very real. This was a risk he wasn't willing to take because he knew his comrades would always try to restrain him without causing injury, something he couldn't return since he would be trying to shred them apart like a wild animal.

The thought made him nauseous.

If he had his way, he'd never touch the Kyuubi's chakra. The bijuu was far too intelligent and powerful to try and control. He was made of chakra which meant that whatever he gave Naruto had at least a part of his consciousness. Not the thinking, conniving parts but the raw primal rage that wanted to raze everything to the ground. His chakra carried this intent and it was what made it so difficult to control. The more chakra there was, the stronger this intent would get.

Then there was the fact that it was corrosive. Nobody really knew why a bijuu's chakra was corrosive they just accepted that it was. Naruto theorized that the potency of their chakra and sheer emotion carried in them did so. The pain was really unbearable. When he said it felt like acid in his veins, he meant it actually felt like he was burning up from the inside out. It felt like the type of pain you get when you exercise a muscle but only a thousand times worse. And it was all over his body…every single fiber felt this excruciating pain. But that wasn't even the worse part.

The more pain he was in, the madder he got. The madder he got…

It just made the situation worse.

Despite all this, there was an inevitability in the situation. No matter what, he couldn't avoid using the Kyuubi's chakra.

And Kyuubi knew this as well.

Having been studying sealing quite extensively under Jiraiya, he'd come to understand some of the intricacies of the seal his father had used on him.

The problem lied in the fact that the seal was progressively being held together by his own chakra.

This was a huge risk given that not only was he a shinobi, but he was training to be a frontline fighter. With numerous tough battles on the horizon, he was going to be expending a lot of chakra and focus, two things that were crucial for suppressing the fox.

The Kyuubi couldn't just jump out whole. He had to progressively pour more and more chakra through the seal, taking control of his mind and letting himself reform in the outside world using Naruto as a vessel. So, provided he had enough willpower and sufficient chakra, he could still hold it back from being released. He had picked up quite a bit on seals, something which would no doubt help him out a lot in this as well.

But the problem lay in the fact that his will was still far, far weaker than the Kyuubi's. He had only been in control of that chakra three times: when he summoned Gamabunta, when he fought Neji and finally when he took out Gaara.

And tt had taken everything out of him to control it.

When he fought Sasuke, he was barely conscious. A fraction of his chakra had nearly overwhelmed him completely…

And now with the Hakke Fuin weakening, he would have to get accustomed to higher and higher amounts of chakra leaking out into his system. He didn't know how much he could truly handle.

The Kyuubi…stories of its might hadn't been exaggerated at all. Causing tsunamis and earthquakes definitely felt plausible with such a vast amount of chakra. He could feel the immense power it possessed. It was nearly limitless, an unstoppable force that could wipe an entire country with ease.

But what really scared him was just how intelligent the fox was. From his limited interactions, he could already tell just how conniving he was. That was why he tried to avoid interacting with him as much as he could, since his mind games really got to him at times.

The damn bastard really knew which buttons to push…

But Jiraiya had been right about one thing…he couldn't simply keep avoiding the issue. He was a jinchuriki and he was going to have to confront the Kyuubi eventually. Ignoring it would only leave him unprepared and against such an entity…it was suicide. It was going to be difficult so he couldn't afford to cripple himself in any ways at all.

Tomorrow, they were going to loosen the seal and test just how much chakra he could handle. If Naruto ever decided to tap into the Kyuubi's chakra, he needed to know his limit. He needed to know where to stop drawing chakra to prevent him from turning into a liability on the battlefield.

One of his greatest fears had always been loosing control and harming or god forbid…killing one of his friends

It sucked he'd lose several years of his life from Jiraiya had told him, but a couple of years of life was worth not having to live with the blood of a friend on his hands.

* * *

**November 9****th**

**Unknown Location:**

Jiraiya immediately noticed how tense Naruto was. He sighed lightly before turning to him, "It'll all be ok kid. You shouldn't worry so much"

"I can't really help it…" he shrugged.

"Well no point getting wound up about it now. Are you ready?"

To his surprise Naruto looked a bit appalled, "Just like that? No contingencies, no plan. Just open it? Are you stupid or something?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched, "Stupid boy…it'll all be fine for the mighty-"

"Oh, cut the bravado sensei! If things go wrong, then the last thing I need is your life on my conscious!"

"I've been a shinobi for nearly four decades. Have some faith in my abilities"

"I do have faith in your abilities or else I wouldn't allow this at all. We don't know how powerful whatever amount of the Kyuubi's chakra I use will be. Wouldn't be safer to be a little cautious then saying we _should _have been cautious"

Jiraiya shook his head, "No…you're absolutely right. I didn't get this far by being so reckless"

He clapped his hands together remaining completely still causing Naruto to raise his eyebrow. That was until he felt an enormous chakra spike from Jiraiya.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke erupted at the ground. It dispelled revealing two small, old looking toads.

"Why, it's been quite a while Jiraiya-chan" the female one greeted.

"Indeed. Thought it's good to see you're not calling for battle for once" the male once replied.

"Good to see you Ma and Pa. I'd like to introduce you to Uzumaki Naruto, my student. Naruto these are the two great Sages from Myobokuzan, Fukasaku and Shima"

"Ah Minato's boy! Pleasure to meet you Naruto-chan"

"It's an honor to meet you Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama"

"No need to be so formal lad. You're one of our own" Fukasaku replied smiling, "I'm guessing you didn't call us here for a meet and greet"

"No…see we're going to loosen Naruto's seal over here to help him learn how to handle the Kyuubi"

"I see…" Fukasaku said shaking his head, "It's best you called us. Best to have backup for such a thing"

"It was Naruto's idea actually…I was acting kind off stupid"

"That was acting incredibly stupid. You should be setting an example Jiraiya" Shima scolded.

"I know Ma, sorry"

"Well let's get down to it now! We'll set up some seals nearby and its best if you're in Sage Mode for this"

"Sage Mode? What's that?" Naruto asked.

Fukasaku smiled, "Not something you should worry about now lad. You should try and focus yourself a bit. This will probably be very difficult"

He nodded lightly but didn't say anything. A glance was shared between the three sages but they remained silent as well, preparing the area in case Naruto lost control.

With everything set, Naruto watched as the two toads leapt onto Jiraiya's shoulder. Jiraiya clapped his hands together, his face morphing into one of focus. The transformation threw him off.

He looked slightly bigger, several of his features had become toad-like but most of all his chakra signature had disappeared completely, which was odd considering he had felt a rather large chakra spike initially.

Not wanting to think about it he shook his head, "Shall we do it?"

"You ready for this kid?" Jiraiya asked.

"About as ready as I'll get…let's do it" he replied raising his shirt to reveal his seal.

It didn't take long for the Kyuubi's chakra to seep out as soon as he loosened the seal. Naruto's brow creased in concentration as he resisted the flow of chakra out, trying to keep himself in control.

"Good…are you there?"

"I'm here…I can draw out some more"

"Keep going lad. If you start loosing it we'll stop you. Don't worry" Fukasaku assured.

With a deep breath he began to pull more chakra out. Slowly a single tail manifested. The chakra formed a flowing orange cloak around him. It emanated a massive and powerful chakra signature.

"Such powerful chakra" Shima noted impressed.

"Yeah…this was the most I've ever pulled…" Naruto said, "This was how much I used when I fought Sasuke. I was barely in control" he continued silently.

"Focus Naruto!" Jiraiya stated sharply earning his attention.

"Sorry…let's keep going"

He kept drawing on the chakra and a second tail began to manifest. The chakra slowly began to change…it remained orange but it began to turn reddish and small bubbles began to form.

Naruto didn't say anything but his face was etched in pure concentration. The other three did note that his eyes began to show slit pupils and a violet color.

"Did you notice Pa, Jiraiya?" Shima asked.

"I did…the chakra signature didn't increase as much as I thought as it should have…it might even have gotten weakened slightly but I can't tell since there's just so much chakra"

"I have a theory…just keep watch. He could slip any second"

"Naruto…you there kid?"

"I am…I got to focus a lot, I can feel the fox's influence pushing now. I can hold it back though…"

"Are you good to keep going?"

"…I am…"

With that he moved forward to the third tail. His chakra had shifted even further towards red with a bare hint of orange. There were a lot more bubbles than there were earlier. His eyes had turned red, fangs and claws had extended giving him a more feral appearance.

He groaned lightly in exertion.

"Kid?"

"I'm…fine…" he grunted out, "It's getting…a lot harder…to keep a straight head…I just want to rip something to shreds!"

"Looks like this is your limit"

Naruto shook his head with his teeth slightly grit, "Not yet…I can go… a bit further"

"Don't force this Naruto"

"I'm fine!"

Jiraiya glanced at Fukasaku and Shima who gave him a nod to which he took a deep breath, "Be careful now"

The fourth tail sprung forth a lot quicker than the others and the chakra turned blood red. It bubbled violently all over and Naruto fell over with a massive yell.

"Naruto?"

With an incredibly strained voice he ground out, "I can…barely…think…Kyuubi…too…strong…"

"Shouldn't we move?" Shima asked concerned.

"No…we're going to have to wait and watch. It's risky but we have to wait till he truly loses control"

They watched as the chakra slowly began to thicken forming a thick opaque cloak over him. Dark red wisps of energy flew around as it slowly crawled over the struggling Naruto. His skin began to turn red in response to the corrosive chakra.

"Pa I really think we should do something now!" Jiraiya spoke with alarm.

With a grim shake of his head, "No. Unless Naruto is unable to fight back we can't jump in. There won't always be someone to help him. As much as this pains me to say but…we have to wait"

* * *

A distinct part of his consciousness felt itself awake elsewhere. He was distinctly aware of what was going on in the real world, but it seemed…slowed down, almost paused as if time were passing incredibly slow. As he found himself gaining focus he found himself in front of a set of familiar bars.

"…Kyuubi…" he acknowledged.

"**Boy" **he responded with barely veiled contempt, **"You were foolish to do this"**

"…I have no choice. I have to know how far I can go before I can't hold you back anymore"

He was met with a mocking laugh, **"How far? You were barely conscious when you fought that Uchiha brat. You know what the outcome of this will be but you choose to do this anyways?"**

"Knowing the outcome shouldn't stop you from giving your best. Even if all the stakes are against you, you might as well go down fighting"

"**And you think this affords you some sort of victory? Are you so blind to the reality of the situation? You will **_**never **_**control my power"**

"…you really don't think that low of me, do you? You're not going to discourage me that easily"

Kyuubi scoffed, **"Evidently not…you share that same insufferable stubborn streak as your mother. You Uzumaki's really get on my nerves"**

"What on Earth did I do to you? I even stopped trying to talk to you like you told me" Naruto asked defensively.

"**What you did to me?" **he growled shifting allowing his face to become visible, **"On the day of that test by the white-haired brat, you felt despair at being bound for a few hours. Now imagine constantly an ant began to drink you blood, just enough for you to notice. Then imagine said insect comes and demands your hand as 'rent'. You want to know why I loathe you boy? Because you're nothing but a filthy hypocrite!"**

Naruto flinched at the venom in his voice but remained silent listening.

"**You think you hold some moral superiority over other humans. You think that you're the only person capable of holding me but I see through you façade. You keep me in here because you enjoy it. You enjoy the power you could wield. You enjoy the fear you can generate with my name. In the end you prove to be nothing else but power obsessed filth like the rest of your species…for your own selfish ends you would keep me imprisoned here against my will! **_**That **_**is why I despise you Uzumaki Naruto!"**

The water began to slowly settle as the room went completely silent.

"You…you're right" Naruto replied earning a skeptical look from the bijuu, "I like knowing I have an endless power source inside me. I like knowing I could scare people at any time. So what? I can't help the fact that I feel them, I'm just human"

"**Where are you going with this?" **Kyuubi growled.

Naruto looked up, "Let me ask you something…have I ever used your power to bully or intimidate people? Have I ever used my status to try and scare someone? Have I acted on any of those feelings that you claim to hate me over?"

"**That is immaterial-"**

"No it's not" Naruto shot back firmly, "I always had a choice to do those things. You hate me for something that is out of my control, yet you refuse to look at me for what I do with things I have control over. Words are thrown around easily, but shouldn't one's actions speak for them. And how exactly is that fair?"

"**Don't you dare lecture me on fairness boy!"**

"Fine, you got dealt a shitty hand by life! You didn't ask to be sealed by the Shodaime or to stay sealed in any of us! But with the state of everything now, this is the best option for everyone"

"**Best option you say?" **he asked trembling with rage, **"Pray tell me what makes you say so?"**

"What do you think will happen if you're released from me? Even if you do know how to suppress your chakra…your release can be detected for miles. A several hundred-foot fox can only be so subtle. Hidden villages will scramble to claim your power as their own, being the strongest of the bijuu and all that. Then let's not forget the Akatsuki and that Uchiha of theirs. Do you really think they'll leave you alone?"

"**I will crush those pitiful insects. Even your mighty Shodai could barely contain me with all his might. The one clan who could hope to hold me is reduced to a few sparse members and the numbers who could possibly seal me is even fewer than that. I have nothing to fear"**

"Nothing? And humans constantly hounding you for to try and seal you, means absolutely nothing? Before the Uzumaki clan I bet you never thought you'd be sealed away by humans. The cry for power…it will drive humanity to find ways to bind you. It may take several generations but a couple centuries…that is barely any time for you, am I wrong?"

"**What exactly are you suggesting?"**

"What I'm _saying _is that I'm your best bet. I'm not a big fan of using your powers but if I don't learn to hold you back you'll just keep trying to get out every moment you can. Honestly…if I had my way you and every other bijuu would be somewhere far, far off where humans and you guys would never meet each other. It would be so much simpler"

"**So, you claim, but…if you had the power to suppress and wield the bijuu as weapons would you not use it to crush your enemies? If you had the chance to use the full scope of my power would you not use it to eliminate the Akatsuki?"**

"…it's tempting to say the least because I know that I would be able to single handedly finish them all off…but power always comes at a cost. If the cost for having power on my own terms is time and risking my life, then I am ok with that"

He scrutinized him carefully for deception but couldn't find a trace of it…

It was surprise that he'd been wrong in his assessment of the boy that caused him to go silent. There wasn't a hint of doubt in Naruto's decision against mastering his power. He was firm as ever that he would only use his chakra as far as he could make sure he wasn't overwhelmed.

But his pride wouldn't let him concede, that to anybody, much less his container, **"As you said boy, words are easily thrown around. Let's see what you'll do when you face overwhelming odds. I will enjoy the moments you come crawling back to me…"**

Naruto's resolve steeled, "I won't…and I'm not going to let you take control of me now either!"

He watched in shock as Naruto's chakra began to swirl around his body strengthening itself. His chakra had always been rather powerful but it seemed to strengthen further in response to his will. It began to push his own chakra back into his seal, refusing to allow it continue expanding.

"**This should be impossible…" **Kyuubi said in absent shock.

* * *

In the real world, the three sages watched as the chakra cloak that had covered close to half his body began to retract backwards.

Naruto reared his head and gave an bloodcurdling scream as he forced the chakra back into the seal. Once the chakra cloak had disappeared completely, he stared exhausted over at the other three.

Without a word he collapsed in a heap as Jiraiya rushed over to him and checked his pulse. He heaved a sigh of relief seeing he was still alive and…relatively healthy.

He stared in horror at the reddened skin.

"We need to get him back to Myobokuzan. He needs healing immediately Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu"

Without another word a cloud of smoke erupted. When it cleared there was nobody left.

* * *

His mind still couldn't wrap itself around what had happened…

Mostly since it should have been impossible!

The Mokuton and chakra chains could suppress his chakra, but they couldn't control its flow in such a manner. They both worked by paralyzing his chakra due to their distinctive properties. The chakra chains were based off fuinjutsu and dense chakra, while the Mokuton was empowered by nature energy even in its base states. This allowed both techniques to resist his chakra and keep it from moving or acting.

But this? To active push back such a massive amount of bijuu chakra with his own chakra? He could understand if there was a suppression seal applied but just with pure chakra and willpower?

The longer he was in him, the more he was coming to understand the Uzumaki Naruto was _not _a normal human being. There were just so many inconstancies with things he'd come to generalize with humans.

And it got him thinking…he had talked to him about fairness…Naruto felt he wasn't being treated fairly by him.

Just…what?

It was something that seemed really trivial but for some odd reason it bothered him quite a bit. It was something that was absolutely absurd yet seemed so in character for him. He groaned raking his claw over his snout. He hated to do this but…

There was much to think about…

**What do you guys think?**

**There were several retcons I made in this fic, mostly to do with stuff in canon that didn't make a lot of sense. The Sharingan being able to control the bijuu is one of them. In all honesty the real power of the Sharingan is 'Plot no Jutsu'. It's going to be strong like it was in part 1, but it's going to have its limits and weaknesses. **

**Well sorry Sasuke you're kinda screwed son.**

**Anyways…his training trip has about six months to a year to go. Should leave room for a couple more chapters. Peace out!**


	5. Chapter 5: Control

**Choices:**

**Hey everyone. I'm back with the fourth chapter here. I just want to take a minute to address a few issues.**

**Firstly Sasuke. For the most part, he's a pretty polarizing character. I don't hate Sasuke, but I'm not his biggest fan at the same time. I'm still trying to figure out how to approach him since I don't want to waste such a huge character. The Sharingan was nerfed since it pretty much overshadowed all the other skills he has. It's still going to be powerful but not to the extent that it can wield 'Plot no Jutsu'. Looking at you Itachi *cough* Izanami *cough*.**

**But the biggest change that's going to be happening is Naruto will be learning senjutsu this chapter. Now you might be triggered about this but we going to see our boy becoming a Sage. Don't worry though, he won't be able to abuse it and power through everything, which will be explained towards the end of the chapter.**

**Senjutsu is an actual skill, not a powerup or a form. It requires a lot of training and focus to use, so you can't call it a BS powerup. Naruto has to work for it, it's not gifted on a silver platter. All the power he gains from this point is going to be earned by blood, sweat, and tears.**

**Well enough from me. Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto. All I own is this notepad ='(**

**Chapter 5: Control**

**Year 15 November 11th:**

The image of the ground where they had loosened Naruto's seal remained etched in Jiraiya's mind…

It had been scorched.

Naruto had retained control for the most part but the Kyuubi's chakra was still as nasty as ever. He remembered how pockets of the village had residues of the Kyuubi's chakra lingering following its attack. These areas were completely inhabitable, and they had a rather ominous atmosphere.

Thankfully it faded after a few years, but he still remembered investigating them. The training area had a similar feeling to it, which had made him feel somewhat uneasy.

"It's a good thing we were nearby eh?" a voice croaked from his shoulder.

"Yeah…this isn't good though"

"Do share lad, what's bothering you?" Fukasaku replied.

"He was supposed to master the Kyuubi's chakra but…it looks like it's a dead-end"

"Perhaps it's for the best. He'll have to rely on his skills rather than using that chakra as a crutch"

"Maybe…but there are so many uncertainties. It isn't the ideal way, but it would have given me some assurance"

"Understandable…but there is another way. I believe you noticed it yesterday as well"

"Yeah, when he reached the second tail the chakra signature weakened. I'm not certain past that but it weakened very slightly for the third tail as well"

"You hit it right on the head. An ordinary sensor would have been blinded by the malice and the volume of chakra, but as sages we noticed. Naruto's chakra merged with the Kyuubi's when they were almost equal in power"

"And that was when he was completely under control. So, if Naruto wants to master the Kyuubi he'd have to somewhat match it in chakra and power"

"And willpower as well. But stop and think about it Jiraiya. To match the mightiest of bijuu as a human. The slope only gets steeper from this point and as you remember it's incredibly difficult for those with such massive reserves to increase it"

"But you said there was something else you had in mind"

"Indeed. It got me thinking…to have chakra strong enough and large enough to not only resist a bijuu's chakra but merge with it. Made me think of other types of energy that he could do the same with"

"You don't mean…

Fukasaku nodded, "I do. He's a perfect candidate to learn senjutsu"

"I don't think that's a great idea…he's gotten a lot better but he still lacks focus-"

"As did you. He has massive reserves, great determination, and willpower. He is in top physical and mental condition. Plus, it would strengthen his chakra and his focus, a huge help with the Kyuubi's chakra"

"…I don't know Pa. The Kyuubi is still the best way in my opinion"

"This is the most direct path you can find. Not necessarily the best one. Sure this comes with its twists and turns but it doesn't mean it shouldn't be ventured at all"

"It would waste valuable time to build on his skills. And we don't even know if he can pull it off. Even Minato failed"

"You've never been one to shy away from a gamble"

"Hang on. What are you guys talking about?" a much younger voice stated behind them interrupting their conversation.

Turning both found Naruto finally back up on his feet. Despite his recovery, his body was still covered in a few bandages due to the burns from using the chakra cloak.

Both sages exchanged a glance before turning to the young jinchuriki. Jiraiya coughed before speaking, "Have you ever wondered why I'm called a Sage?"

"I did actually…I figured your enemies found you wise or patient, or something like that" he shrugged

Jiraiya snorted, "If only…the truth is I was given that name due to my ability to use senjutsu"

"Sage techniques?" Naruto asked curiously, "So it's something you learned on Mount Myobokuzan from the toads?"

"Indeed…me and Jiraiya-chan have been discussing the merits of teaching you this"

"So, there's either some inherent risk or difficulty that may not make it worth the time?"

"Both…the risk of death is certain if not done properly and the learning curve…well, let's just say even Minato couldn't master this particular technique" Jiraiya admitted.

"Tou-chan couldn't huh? What are the requirements?"

Fukasaku studied Naruto carefully before he began to speak, "The first is you must have a contract with a summoning clan that knows how to use senjutsu. The second which you fulfill quite easily is having a vast chakra reserve and a strong body to handle it…"

"And I'm guessing the last one is strong willpower and focus"

"You have no idea gaki…this makes the Rasengan look like an Academy jutsu"

"Be as it may, I do believe we should give him a chance to learn it. His chakra does appear to have a strange resonance with nature energy. Perhaps an effect of being a jinchuriki"

"Besides…if senjutsu is as strong as I think it is, it could be a great trump card against the Akatsuki" Naruto added helpfully.

Jiraiya paused to give this thought. In Sage Mode, he'd be invincible to all genjutsu except maybe powerful versions like Itachi's Tsukuyomi, though he wasn't sure about that. Chakra absorption techniques were useless since they'd it would eventually cause petrification. Outside that, the mental changes it brought could be key. Mental discipline and focus would become second nature which would boost his chakra control and genjutsu resistance, by far his two weakest areas, making him stronger even in his base state.

But what made him want to say no was the vision of him returning with a toad statue to Tsunade. He knew better than anybody else just how nasty her temper could be. If such a thing occurred, what Tsunade did to him would make Orochimaru's experiments look downright humane and harmless. There was a very good reason she was regarded as both the greatest medic-nin as well as the most feared Sannin.

And that was before considering what Kushina would do to him in the afterlife. To be frank he couldn't choose which was worse.

But he hadn't lived his life dictated by fear. The thought of what they would do to him was just a passing since he'd already made up his mind, "A teacher must have faith in their student…have a go at it, Naruto. This will give me some time to do recon in some more dangerous places"

"You're acting like I can't handle myself," Naruto said a bit annoyed.

"I didn't mean it that way kid. Danger doesn't have to be a personal, physical danger. Can't have the next shinobi war started because of rumors of the Kiiroi Senko's ghost can we?"

He rubbed his head slightly, "True…but you'll visit?"

Jiraiya chuckled and ruffled his head, "Of course. Best of luck with the training Naruto"

* * *

**November 23rd:**

"Ow!" Naruto snapped as he was struck with the stick again.

Fukasaku groaned, "You're absorbing nature energy too fast lad. At this rate, you'll turn into a statue in mere seconds"

He sighed. This was hard. Sensing nature energy had taken some time, but he grasped it with some difficulty. But, actually absorbing and manipulating it?

"Well it's rather late and you've been trying for quite a while. How about we call it a day?"

"Sure Fukasaku-sensei…dinner time isn't it?" he asked his face turning a shade of blue.

He chuckled, "If you don't like Ma's cooking so much you should say so. She knows how to make onigiri"

"W-what?!"

He chuckled, "Just wanted to see how long you'd last. Must say I'm impressed"

Naruto's eye twitched, "What did I ever do to you?"

Fukasaku simply smiled before walking away. Shaking his head, he stood up and slowly made his way over to the little house by the mountainside lost in his thoughts. He was trying to wrap his head around what he was doing wrong, but it just wasn't coming to him. Three weeks on non-stop practice and he'd barely made any improvements. It wasn't like any other techniques he learned. There was no inherent trick or steps to learn. It was probably the simplest technique on paper.

But in practice it was maddening. Staying still was probably the least of his worries. Taking his entire reserves and balancing it with the right amount of nature energy took an unbelievable amount of focus. And then there were the consequences of failing.

Senjutsu provided its immense power-up by acting on the cellular level. Each cell was strengthened and modified by the presence of nature energy making the user significantly more powerful. But this was the same reason the downside arose.

The margins involving nature energy were incredibly slim. The lower threshold, beneath which the effects of nature energy were too weak to make a difference, was surprisingly very high. Naruto had to absorb a very large portion of nature energy to pass this.

But then there was a higher threshold, above which nature energy began to physically transform the user's cells. Depending on the summon-specific method, it transformed the human cells into those of the animal. This was the reason Jiraiya showed toad-like characteristics when he entered Sage Mode since he always absorbed too much nature energy.

The line between the lower and upper threshold was far smaller than one would expect. It was very easy to just jump past that point. The power of senjutsu laid not in sheer power or volume of chakra but in balance. It was the balance between his chakra and nature energy, which meant he had to have a very intimate understanding of both.

He had to know when his chakra was balanced perfectly against nature energy. He had to know the rate at which he was absorbing nature energy. He had to know when to slow down or stop absorbing nature energy.

The truth was nature energy reminded him of Kyuubi's chakra in some ways. Both were incredibly potent and always seemed to fight against his chakra. But the difference was nature energy didn't have the same malicious intent that the Kyuubi's chakra was, in some senses, it was basically an inert form of that chakra. But by no means did it make it easier to control.

Things really so much easier said than done.

He slowly fingered the bamboo flute he had bought a few months ago. He smiled remembering how entranced he had been with it. The music had been so soothing that he felt drawn towards it in that small town. After a conversation with the nice middle-aged man who sold him the extra he had and offered him some basic lessons for the time he was in the town, Naruto had begun learning how to play it. Mind you it wasn't easy and more often than not he wanted to stab his ears from the way he played it, but he persisted using his intuition to gradually improve with time. He could now make a basic tune which he was rather proud of.

Picking it up he slowly began to play it. The instrument was meant to be played very slowly. Long deep breaths between each note and intense focus made it rather challenging for Naruto. One would have expected him to find interest in more spontaneous instruments like drums or strings, but the flute truly was cathartic for him. Anytime he felt stressed in the last few months, he'd pop it out and play it.

A few minutes later he sighed, placing his flute down and he glanced out at the star-filled sky. As always evenings flew by. It was an unusual environment for him, but he enjoyed the toads' company. They were honest and rather respectful, which made things so much easier for him. He didn't have to assume what he did wrong since somebody would just tell him.

Sleep came easily as always on Myobokuzan. It had a serene environment and it was just so easy to relax there. He drifted off easily enough but frowned when he found himself in front of a familiar set of bars and knee-high water.

"What is it now?"

Naruto mused on the Kyuubi's seeming flair for theatricality. He'd always suddenly shoot his eyes open while hiding in the darkness to create a startling effect, at least it was the first couple of times. But something was off this time…usually, he was met with a constant level of contempt but not today. Sure, it was still a mighty glare filled with hate and malice, but it was different. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the fox almost appeared…

Calm.

This freaked him out more because in all the time he'd been in contact with the bijuu, he'd been far from calm.

**"Does me being this way really surprise you so much, boy?"**

"…a little. Look I don't want to get into another yelling contest again. I-"

**"Are you naïve enough to think you can control nature energy?"** Kyuubi interrupted Naruto.

To this Naruto blinked only getting more freaked out. He did not like where this was going…

"And what do you know about nature energy?" Naruto asked slowly.

A momentary flicker of the eyes showed a hint of anger but it passed just as quickly, **"You humans are truly foolish beings…us bijuu are part of the natural world. We're amalgamations of what you call nature energy"**

"That…makes a lot of sense. That's why you guys can't be killed. But if you were dispersed in that way wouldn't you stay dispersed. So, you can control nature energy right?"

He was met with an annoyed huff, **"Don't test my patience with your ignorance. Even with the full extent of my chakra, I can't hope to tame nature energy. Unlike your foolish assumptions, it does have an intent. The harder you fight against that intent the harder it fights back"**

"…why are you telling me this?"

He glanced away and scoffed, **"Don't get the wrong idea…I have no intention of allowing you to become petrified. There's no way to tell what will happen to me if you lose control of all that nature energy. After all your reserves are somewhat respectable for a human"**

They both remained silent.

That was until a low growl broke out, **"I've put up with you enough. Leave now boy and never pretend I haven't done something for you!"**

He felt himself flung out of his mindscape. He sat up slowly his eyes opening up. Time flowed in mysterious ways in his mind. Sometimes an hour-long yelling match was just a couple seconds, while in others like this one a few minutes lasted an entire night.

But again…that was weird.

Really weird.

But he didn't really want to ponder on it much right now. Shaking his head, he propped himself up, "Well time to do this" he muttered and walked out to his usual training spot.

Fukasaku noted the change in Naruto's demeanor as soon as they began training for the day. It had been about three weeks since he set foot on Myobokuzan but he had never seen this level of focus in the teenager.

He prepared to strike him with the stick yet again but held himself back when he noticed Naruto allowing the nature energy to slowly disperse from him.

His eyes opened up, "I think I understand now…"

Fukasaku nodded approvingly, "I have to say I'm impressed. It takes years for one to begin comprehending nature energy, yet you've managed to do so"

"I actually didn't figure it out myself…"

This caused a bit of alarm, "You don't mean…"

Naruto nodded, "Kyuubi told me. Sure, he gave me his reasons and it was exactly something he would say but…I can't help but think he was trying to prove a point"

"And that would be…?"

"That…it's not important. What matters is I know what to do now"

He picked the lie but chose not to call him out on it, "If you say so my boy…hold your patience, it will take some time for you to master this"

"Understood"

* * *

**November 28th:**

**Border of Kusa and Tsuchi no Kuni**

This wasn't good.

Being a veteran allowed Jiraiya to discern certain patterns at ease. Despite the fact that shinobi prided themselves in being deceptive and subtle, they often tended to repeat past trends.

Iwa had always been the most aggressive of the five great villages. Tsuchi no Kuni, while rich in a number of rare metals and minerals, was filled with primarily arid land making agriculture rather limited. Their subsistence was heavily dependent on imports from smaller countries. As a result, they tended to heavily favor expansionist policies, in the hopes of attaining arable land.

The downside? They were the most frequent instigators of conflict between villages.

Much like they were going to be with their latest incursion into Kusa no Kuni. A full Iwa kill squad, consisting of twenty-odd jonin deployed to the border spoke of their intentions very clearly.

"Onokhi you senile fool. What on Earth are you trying?!" he cursed before leaping forward.

As he descended, he kicked down snapping the necks of the leading two jonin. They fell to the ground in a heap as all the others moved backward defensively.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin. I'd tell you what an honor it is to see you, but you better get out of here before we kill you old man"

"Awfully confident for a couple of no-name jonin. No Kitsuchi or Kamizuru members…you kids are way out of your depth. Here's your choice, surrender and I'll make this painless or lie broken for a few minutes before I end it. Your choice

Another jonin walked forward, "You think…that we'd surrender to a Konoha shinobi after what your bastard student did to us in the last war! Sandaime-sama's orders be damned, we will eliminate any Konoha ninja foolish enough to cross us! We will-"

His rant was cut short as a kunai pierced his throat and he fell dead instantly. They had no time to realize what was going on as the earth beneath the squad broke open as the real Jiraiya leaped out burying a pair of Rasengans into two more of the jonin, while his clone standing in front of them unleashed Katon: Dai Endan.

Most leaped away but three were burnt to a crisp instantly.

With their numbers being reduced from twenty to twelve within a minute, doubt began creeping in their minds. Jiraiya noted their hesitancy.

If he had his way he well and truly would have spared them. Most were twenty-something of age, with years ahead of them. He took no joy in shortening their lives, but their fate was set in stone. He couldn't let them attack Kusa in such a manner. Kusagakure would cry for help and Konoha would be forced to defend them since they were their allies. It would lead to the dominoes of finger-pointing before everybody became riled up to go.

Sparing them would be even worse since Iwa cry out foul play and declare war. It may have seemed pessimistic, but it was the reality he had come to understand in his long career.

With a combination of taijutsu and Katon jutsu, all that remained of the kill squad thirty seconds later was ash spread over the earth. Taking a few minutes to clear up the sight of the battle, he gave a quick prayer before he departed but not before glancing backward for a minute as though he felt somebody was watching. Eventually, he shook his head and departed from the scene not wanting to stick around much longer.

A few minutes following his departure, a swirling dimensional rip appeared causing a figure to appear from thin air, as another rose from the dirt.

"How interesting…Onoki is looking to start another war. Recruiting the Akatsuki has made him confident in his village's strength" the orange-masked figure muttered.

**"Even if they can't prove it, they will blame Konoha for the loss"**

"They will not act on simple assumptions. He may act aggressively but the Tsuchikage is a shrewd man. He will wait for Konoha to slip before he pursues war. The importance is how to use this to our favor"

**"Iwa would be crushed by Konoha as it is now"**

"I'm well aware, Zetsu. We must push Nagato and Konan to pursue this potential war alongside Iwa"

**"You are playing dangerously Obito!"** Zetsu hissed,** "Do not forget you need the Rinnegan to become the Juubi jinchuriki. You will never weaken Nagato if you have him fight with a major hidden village by his side"**

Obito's lone Sharingan moved slowly over towards Zetsu with amusement which annoyed him to no end, "Oh but it will. You are yet to see all the cards laid out Zetsu. My two trump cards are yet to be shown"

He was met with a vicious growl but Zetsu simply turned away, **"Don't lose sight of Project Tsuki no Me…"** Zetsu warned before melding with the ground.

Obito stared at the ash spread before him. Project Tsuki no Me…no matter what it would occur. It truly was a shame that the biggest victims of their system would yet again be sacrificed.

Uzumaki Naruto…no doubt he would be the final hurdle to his goal. Not only did he represent what they both were in the past, but what he could become in the future if he hadn't been crushed by that boulder. In many ways, he represented the doubts that Obito had constantly suppressed for so many years. Overcoming him meant he had truly meant he had embraced his role as 'Madara'

Nothing would stand in his way…nothing would stop him from being with his Rin again in his dream world.

* * *

**December 12th:**

This was it. The nature energy slowly slipped into his chakra coils. As always, he felt an overwhelming pressure as it tried to escape back out but rather than fight it, he allowed his chakra to continue flowing naturally both into and out of him. When he became tensed or anxious, Naruto's chakra had a tendency to become wild and difficult to meld. But with the calm he was holding now, the nature energy began to slowly meld with it. The excitement, the fear and the pride he felt simply washed away as he made surrendered himself to it.

As a shinobi and more importantly as a person, he had always tried to be in control, always taking the first step in any situation because if he didn't react he felt out of place. Suppressing this natural instinct took unbelievable focus and power of will. To stop himself from reacting to nature energy was what he required to master it.

And then he felt it.

His eyes snapped open gazing calmly over at Fukasaku over at the opposite spire. The elderly toad grinned with unbelievable pride.

"You truly did it…every tadpole at Myobokuzan will be chattering with excitement because we have a true Sage for the first time in centuries…how do you feel lad?"

"Focused but calm…I don't know how to explain it but…I literally feel like I could achieve anything. You weren't kidding when you said this gives a person an incredible boost"

"Don't get carried away Naruto-chan. Senjutsu has a major weakness despite all the amazing boosts it grants"

"It's because nature energy drains back out, right? I can feel it happening right now"

Fukasaku nodded, "Then as you've probably realized, Sage Mode will last only for about three to four minutes with your current chakra capacity and mastery. By training and developing your reserves, you will be able to prolong it but there will always be a limit, which will only be shortened by the use of jutsu. True you won't lose any of your own chakra, but people won't sit and let you collect nature energy in the middle of a battle"

"So, you have a solution to this?"

"Yes. Since you're in Sage Mode already this will be easier but with Senpo: Ryusei no Jutsu, either me, Ma or both of us will be able to use with you to help you collect nature energy and remain in that state indefinitely"

With his senses heightened, Naruto noticed a low growl within his mind accompanied by a spike of anger and annoyance. Evidently, Kyuubi wasn't very pleased with this idea…

"Wait! I don't think we can do this!"

Fukasaku raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Pray, tell me why?"

"Well…it's because Kyuubi's chakra runs through my coils. If you do fuse with me then it might run the risk of rediverting towards you"

"Hmmm…I see. That is unfortunate" he said skeptically but he appeared to let his lie slide…again, "You realize that would make senjutsu useless in combat"

"Maybe right now…but I have time and I have resources. It'll be hard and it'll take time, but I'll definitely figure out a way to collect nature energy in battle"

"In other words, you want to do the impossible" Fukasaku said shaking his head, "Seriously, just like your father…"

Naruto chuckled lightly at this. For the first time in years, he began to feel some measure of confidence. The power he was experiencing at the moment was unbelievable. Learning Kawazu Kumite or the Toad Fist showed him just how much he'd been physically bolstered. His speed, strength, and reflexes were off the charts. The strength of all his ninjutsu had increased exponentially in their strength and his sensory abilities were as Fukasaku told him, unmatched. But what he liked the best was the immunity to genjutsu.

It might have been petty, but he loved rubbing it in Gamariki's face.

The only type of genjutsu that could affect a Sage was senjutsu based ones such as Gama Rinsho, the Toad Confrontation Chant. He made a note to remember that should he ever encounter another Sage.

It wasn't perfect and he may have had the raw strength to match the Akatsuki now, but he wasn't foolish enough to believe it made him ready yet. He had the tools necessary to achieve his goals and all he had to do was keep working hard with it.

With something as second nature to him, he finally began to truly believe in the words of his master.

He could one day become a shinobi legend.

* * *

**December 18th:**

**Bar within Kusa no Kuni**

Jiraiya sighed tiredly. Traversing Tsuchi no Kuni without being spotted had been stressful. Even a whisper of his presence would instantly spark a war. Being one of the strongest shinobis in the elemental nations, sightings would be interpreted as unwarranted aggression and they would call for war.

Given the mobilization of Iwagakure's forces, it wouldn't take much for them to do so.

He tapped his finger lightly on the desk, "You're late"

"Greetings to you as well Jiraiya-sama" a monotone voice greeted.

Jiraiya turned around to come face to face with a clone off Uchiha Itachi, "No need to be sarcastic, kid. It's been a long month"

"It has…the Akatsuki has been contracted by Iwa for numerous missions" he spoke rather tiredly, "Most of their S-rank missions are being outsourced to us. With our rates as low as it is, they make a substantial margin with these missions while allowing them to pursue other lower-ranked missions. They've nearly doubled the number of A-rank missions accepted"

"That much huh? This is troubling…the only question that remains is how long until the war begins"

"Likely after we capture the Yonbi and Gobi jinchuriki. Onoki is aware that we know of their locations"

"Knowing him, he hopes you'll weaken each other or kill them. Roshi's a stubborn old bastard and Onoki has been trying to off him for a while" he shook his head.

"Given neither are interested in following his orders…they'll likely take this chance to mobilize agents in the East. They haven't had a chance to investigate Kumo's jinchurikis yet"

"Hmm…well this gives me an idea. How likely are we to run into somebody if we headed to that side?"

"Unlikely since there are strict instructions to leave Naruto-kun till the very end"

"But weren't you and Kisame-"

"We were, it does contradict their instructions but this is because Tobi wants to gauge his strength. Which means he intends to begin his schemes soon as well"

Jiraiya sighed, "Things can never be simple, can they? You think he can take him?"

"I can't judge that without facing him Jiraiya-sama. I'll try my best to face him one-on-one should we ever encounter him. That way he'll keep his skills masked a little while longer"

"Well…then here's to hoping for the best" Jiraiya replied raising his sake glass.

Itachi tapped it lightly before both men took a sip of their sake. 'Itachi' set his glass down before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Jiraiya eyed the spot before taking another swig of sake. He set down the bottle with a thud before staring out at the sky. He heaved a deep breath, "Well time to visit Naruto".

After having himself reverse summoned by an oddly excited toad, Jiraiya's eyes widened instantly. He could recognize senjutsu chakra with ease and a rather large source was present nearby. His face instantly twisted into a grin as he walked towards it.

When he saw Naruto for the first time in nearly a month, the changes were apparent just by seeing his body language. He'd always felt a strange energy around him Naruto, one if looked at closely would show hints of excitement, determination but at the same time a sense of tension and anxiety. Looking at him now he didn't see the little kid who he had trained for the chunin exams anymore. The subtle calm and confidence that he was showing made him see his godson as the soon-to-be man he was.

The shadow of Minato that always clung around him was more than a vision of a distant future. In a few years, he was confident that Naruto would be every bit the ninja that his father was.

"You finally showed up huh? Bet you never expected me to master it this quickly huh sensei?" Naruto asked cheekily.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, "And here I was thinking off how mature you've gotten. Turns out you're still a snot-nosed brat…and brats need to be put in their place by their elders! On your guard!"

"Come at me!" Naruto grinned.

With that student and teacher leaped at each other.

It was several minutes later, and Naruto lay panting on the floor, "If…you…had shown up…a minute earlier…" he managed out.

Jiraiya bent over holding his knees looked up and grinned, "To think… that you kept me on my toes…if you get used to this, I'd have to use Sage Mode myself…this is a huge success!"

"Oh, you bet! I can't believe I can finally do the Bunshin. Though it, kind of sucks it's only in Sage Mode though…but even with all I've done so far it doesn't feel right to go home yet. I still want to train more and get stronger"

"You know…I planned between six to twelve months more beyond this point. Naruto you…these two years you've trained at a near-suicidal rate. You've gained enough strength at this point. There's so much in this world that you need to learn about beyond just your taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu"

"But what of the Akatsuki?"

"If you could stand even ground with me as an inexperienced Sage. then you have more than a good chance of taking them out when you have your comrades by your side. Do you think you're the only one who's been training? Tsunade told me all your classmates have worked themselves to the bone to reach chunin, most of them with hopes of being in the same league as you when you return. Even Kakashi has been getting off his lazy ass to get stronger. You aren't alone in this, believe me"

"Still…"

"Don't forget other aspects of yourself in the blind pursuit of power. You of all people know where that leads" Naruto flinched and nodded at this, "What of your promise to become Hokage? What of becoming a fuinjutsu master, what of honoring your mother by learning kenjutsu? There's more to you than just being a weapon of mass destruction. There's more to life than being a ninja…there's a whole world out there and it's my responsibility to teach you these things. You're my protégé kid, which means that there's a lot I still have to impart…now what do you say?"

Naruto shut his eyes before he smiled, "Let's do it…oh! The first thing we need to visit a village with a high school, I have some new lines I…want to…" he trailed off realizing just who he had said it to.

Jiraiya burst out laughing, "Hahaha! That's my boy! Guess you take after me a bit more than you thought huh? Don't worry young one I will teach you all the ways to woo a woman's heart"

Naruto flushed bright red, "Don't make it sound like that you damn perv…I just want to talk to females like a normal teenager…yeah, that's it!"

"Sure, sure, whatever floats your boat. Now come on, we're going to take a long trip all the way across the nations till we hit our final destination. Believe me, you'll love it"

Naruto perked up in excitement, "What is the place?"

"Nothing special really…just the homeland of your ancestors and the last vestiges of your family's style sealing…it's time to return to Uzushiogakure"

**Oof, hard couple of chapters there.**

**As I said, Naruto can't abuse Sage Mode to power through everything. He's great at it, but it's not combat-ready yet. If and when he uses it, it's going to be a very calculated effort since it's risky in the midst of battle. He'll get better with it over time, but initially, it's going to be used only in dire situations.**

**But with lots of conflict coming up I also want to let you know that I'm aiming to keep the more tactical aspects off part 1 to carry on in Shippuden, except when dealing with the bijuu. Rather than having people just casually throwing jutsu, it's a fight of attrition and wit. Even though Naruto does have Sage Mode, he can't casually power through everybody because it's never a straight fight.**

**I want to retain the tactical aspects that Kishimoto introduced in the first part. These fights were just so well-choreographed and genuinely got me hyped when I watched them. Instead of flashy over the top techniques, I want to have more focused and strategic fighting happening. Hopefully, I can do a decent job with that. I hope you enjoyed!**

**Peace out!**


	6. Chapter 6: Shadows

**Choices**

**Hey peeps. It's been a break since the last chapter. I had to take some time to plan out how I want to take the story forward. I thought a bit of exposition would help make a clearer picture of the entire shinobi world. This is a pretty long chapter and the next couple should be coming up relatively soon.**

**I want to reiterate that despite Naruto possessing Sage Mode, he has a lot of limitations for using it. The whole using clones to collect nature energy didn't make a lot of sense to me based on what we learned about shadow clones. So I will probably have Naruto try and create a type of clone with the specific purpose of helping him collect nature energy. Don't expect it to be easy though =)**

**Naruto's training trip is nearing its end and though the initial parts will resemble Shippuden slightly they're going to end up diverging a lot from there. I'm not a fan of rewriting canon events especially when its been done thousands of times. **

**Chapter 6: Shadows**

**Year 16, January 7****th****:**

**Sunagakure:**

Sabaku no Gaara let out a small breath as he moved a stack of completed paperwork away from his table. As he often did, he stared out the window onto his village.

For the longest time, he had never associated Suna as being a place where a belonged. No, it just happened to be the place where he was born and lived in. He used to loathe it, the source of all his pain and suffering. He would envision burying the place in his sand and watching every soul suffocate.

But now…this village was his responsibility. Elected for the most demanding position at a mere age of fourteen.

Yeah…he had surprised himself for lasting a week much less a year. But things were looking better now…

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a slight movement by his window. Instantly on guard, Gaara blinked in surprise when a toad about the size of his palm leaped through the window. It bounded over to him before placing a piece of paper on the desk and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"A summoning…" he mumbled absentmindedly. There were only two people he was aware of that were capable of summoning toads, neither who had any reason to attempt to assassinate him.

Only one of them had reason to contact him directly since the other would do so through the Hokage. He felt a smile graze his lips. Leaning back on his chair, he unfolded the paper that was placed on his desk and began to read it.

* * *

_Gaara_

_Congratulations on becoming Kazekage. I know this is a bit late, but I only just found out._

_That got me thinking about the fact that we haven't spoken in a long time and it's quite possible that we may not be able to meet for a while in the future. You're my friend and I want to know what's going on in your life, but Suna's really far away and I doubt you'd appreciate me strolling in._

_I've been working on a prototype messenger, that transmits messages between two pieces of paper. It was pretty complicated fuinjutsu, but I finally managed to do it. _

_If it works, we can keep in touch all the time. Pretty neat, eh? See the box beneath? Write your message with any chakra conductive ink and if it works I should be able to read it with my paper. Try to note the time if you can, so I can tell if there is a delay between the message being written and sent._

_Guess I'll save asking stuff till I know this works_

_-Naruto_

* * *

He couldn't help but stare at the sheet for several moments. Transmitted messages? Such an idea was beyond absurd.

Though given the fact that fuinjutsu allowed a bijuu to be sealed within him, it wasn't all that farfetched.

And this was the exact sort of thing that the other villages would throw a stink over. After all, they were all locked in constant competition. Clients flocked to the village that was either acknowledged as the strongest, had the best image or provided the best services. The existence of a hidden village was dependent on the revenue they garnered from mission requests. Anything that could provide one village with a sizeable advantage over another was something they would try to sabotage or eliminate.

As such attempts built up on both sides, the resentment would gradually escalate into a cold war. The kind that Konoha and Iwa were permanently doomed to. Now if conflict broke out during a mission or a well-loved figure was assassinate – accusations would be thrown and the cold war would escalate into a real one.

Shinobi may have prided themselves on learning from their mistakes, but history repeated itself. Always.

Now the prospect of having something that could instantly transmit messages was not only revolutionary but something that would give any village with the ability to use it a major advantage. For most people sending messages was limited to being carried by animal summons or familiars. The speed of transmitting the message was limited by the speed at which the animal could travel, which typically wasn't too much faster than shinobi. For instance, it took specially trained desert rats up to two days to carry a message to Konoha while the average ninja took about three days to travel that distance.

He would have loved nothing more than to implement such a thing for his shinobi to use, but there was the fact that his village was still somewhat unstable and couldn't deal with another village yet. Second, it was evident that this prototype had taken several months to create. The seals on the back were incredibly complex and intricate.

He wasn't aware if Naruto had put in this effort with the specific intent of being able to keep in contact with him; regardless he was touched. He'd keep this a secret and he'd make sure to take extra care of it.

Reaching into the middle shelf of his desk, he fished out a vial of chakra conductive ink. Dipping his ink pen into it, he began to write his message in the portion below.

* * *

_Naruto_

_It's good to hear from you. It's been almost two years since we last saw each other. It's almost surreal that I've been Kazekage for a year now. It is taxing and being cooped up inside the village can get on your nerves. If I have any advice for you, then don't become Hokage until you're in your late twenties or you'll lose out on a lot of action._

_If I remember correctly, you've been traveling with Jiraiya of the Sannin to train for the past two years. I can only imagine how much stronger you've gotten. I'll be looking for a rematch the next time we meet. _

_To hoping this works_

_\- Gaara, 9:04 am_

* * *

Several seconds after he finished writing, he noticed a faint yellow glow surround each letter of the message. At least some part of it was working which was a good sign. Naruto did seem to believe there might be a delay between writing and receiving the message, the only question was just how long that would be.

Whenever Gaara thought of Naruto, he was always reminded of the changes that his village had undergone in the last two years.

Suna had been on the brink of collapse following their failed invasion of Konoha. Orochimaru did exactly as many had expected, he had made use of Suna for his own ends leaving them to clean up the mess he had created. It didn't help that many had been against allying themselves against such an infamous traitor, much less one of Orochimaru's reputation.

There was a good reason hidden village generally didn't associate with or provide refuge to nukenin. Regardless of the reasons behind their defections, they had already betrayed their own village. Was it really wise to give them a chance to betray you?

The Snake Sannin had done more than just impersonate the Yondaime Kazekage and mislead them into the invasion. He had stolen a good chunk of money, raw material and prized jutsu from their village. Their forces had shrunk significantly in size having faced the brunt of casualties during the assault.

With their leader dead, their village in shambles and their various benefactors threatening to disown the village, Suna had been in a rut. Unrest had been widespread meaning the only question was if the village collapsed by itself or from civil war.

The invasion had been more than just a sting to Suna's pride and reputation. Missions that had already been so hard to come by had begun to fall even further. That thing about image? Suna hadn't exactly had the greatest one before the invasion, and it had only worsened after being the main reason why they were almost disowned from Kaze no Kuni.

And this all could be explained by the very hasty appointment of his father as the Yondaime Kazekage. It had happened shortly after the disappearance of two of their strongest shinobi, the Sandaime Kazekage, and Akasuna no Sasori, both who had now been declared S-rank nukenin. Neither had been spotted for years, which was what typically happened given the level of skill they possessed.

Rasa had been a poor choice to be Kazekage. He had no background or training for the position, merely being elected because his popularity stemmed from his extreme pro-Suna campaigns following the Sandaime's disappearance. It had been a blunder considering the difficulties associated with being a Kage, which was especially compounded in Suna's case because of their location and even more so by circumstances.

Suna's location within the desert was a major deterrent against attacks and invasions on their soil. The harsh unforgiving desert was difficult to traverse even for the most experienced of shinobi; with harsh sandstorms, lack of food and water, and blistering heat for most of the year.

But the factors that deterred invaders, were also the factors that made life in Suna very difficult. Maintaining a hidden village was expensive as it is, adding continual costs from damage caused by sandstorms and difficulty in transporting goods across the desert had always resulted in Suna charging notably higher rates compared to every other village. For the most part, they were capable of providing services that justified the high prices.

But Rasa's militant approach had ironically decreased the quality of shinobi being produced. The shinobi academy became much more stringent and weeded out the weaker students and those regarded as hopeless cases in the earlier years, providing greater instruction and focus to the top performers. This was a common practice in most shinobi villages, excluding Konoha.

Civilian origin shinobi tended to struggle far more than those that hailed from a clan or from a family with a shinobi background since they would have to rely on the Academy and jonin senseis for guidance and training. Since chakra and physical abilities were influenced by inheritance, the chance of a civilian origin shinobi becoming an asset to the village was far, far slimmer and required significantly more investment in training them.

Rasa saw this as a waste and took the system to the extreme. Everything was invested in training those that performed leaving the others behind to struggle. A Suna genin would have received far more training in their formative years than their Konoha counterparts, making them far superior in combat prowess.

But an interesting point Gaara had noticed was that the average Konoha chunin was far rsuperior to those form Suna and elsewhere in the world. His talks with Tsunade had revealed the genius in investing in those 'washouts'. They didn't go onto to become Kages and legends, but it provided them with not only superiorly trained chunin but a massive population of them.

It was simple math. Any villages shinobi force consisted of mostly chunin. Konoha not only had a sizeable military force but they also had numbers to accept even the oddest and most mundane missions. Gaara held a lot of respect for Tsunade because she had understood his plight of being forced to become a Kage at such a young age and had helped him appropriate some of Konoha's practices and systems to Suna. Many had been skeptical at first, but Gaara pointed out one simple figure that had got them to agree almost instantly.

Genin mortality rates had fallen by almost five times since doing so. Shocking isn't it? In times of peace, the number of genin that had perished in the last fifteen years was disturbing, to say the least, being over three times higher than all the other villages. Most of these were their best and brightest who the village had invested a significant amount of time and resources into. Their shinobi population had gradually been replaced by the few mediocre and disgruntled ninja, who had been ignored in favor of focusing on those genins that ended up perishing. Their attitude often left much to be desired, often being apathetic and rude, which left a poor impression on clients.

It really wasn't surprising that the Wind daimyo had begun to request Konoha for their services. Konoha shinobi not only had superior rates and higher success, but they were much more amiable and Konoha as a whole had the best image among all the hidden villages. Their clientele dwarfed the other villages by quite a notable margin and the daimyo hadn't seen any reason not to reach out to them for their services. It was a bit naïve and hypocritical to accuse Konoha of 'stealing' their clients since Suna wouldn't have hesitated to do the same.

Desperation and pride were terrible motivators and had skewed Rasa's judgment to the point that he had deserved his fate. The invasion was poorly thought out, since it was Suna hinging everything on its success.

And Gaara? He'd been left to deal with the fallout.

When he had finally had clarity in his life and was beginning to understand just who he was, he was forced to lead and protect the people who had hated him for years. He had to shoulder their pains and burdens because they didn't see anybody else who could.

Could everything really have been forgiven so easily? Did they not see him as a monster anymore or did they simply hope he'd turn his wrath on their enemies? Could he bring himself to protect those that had left him alone and suffering?

…

It was at this time that he realized that Naruto had given him something that wouldn't solve his problems but buy him time till he was better equipped to deal with them.

Denial.

He had been able to discern the lie when they talked. Naruto had been in a state of ambiguity himself, but he had realized that his thoughts on 'proving' himself were based on nothing but denial. And that was when he understood.

Uzumaki Naruto had kept himself sane by sheer force of will and tons of denial. It wasn't healthy and did nothing but mask the issue. However, it granted him time. The time that he didn't have to introspect or reflect which would have revealed ugly truths before he could handle it. Wasn't he traveling outside the village with his sensei now? A perfect place to deal with his issues while he was away from the hateful and ignorant masses.

And that was what Gaara did. He held a slightly naïve belief over his villagers. It had almost blown up in his face with several more assassination attempts since people couldn't trust him. But the village had come to accept him as a necessity to their survival. People didn't fear or hate him as much as before but they still maintained an arm's length, afraid that if they get too close he'd revert to his murderous ways.

He had put in a lot of effort to keep the village afloat. In two years, Suna went from near collapse to the best state it had been in almost two decades.

The year preceding him taking office as the Godaime, he had taken on an inordinate number of missions, some with Temari and Kankuro with him but mostly by himself. He had shouldered the tougher missions facing incredibly difficult situations and powerful opponents. Many saw this as fitting since his role was meant to be a weapon for their village. People had been pleased that he was taking all these missions, few hoping he'd eventually perish on one.

But Gaara had learned much from his time in Konoha. He had never had the need to train in the past, with even his father, being the strongest ninja, struggling to assassinate him while three Konoha genin had managed to wound him rather badly in the span of a month. He had learned to stop relying on his absolute defense and had worked tirelessly to become a well-rounded shinobi.

Constantly working on his physical conditioning and taijutsu, picking up an arsenal of defensive and offensive ninjutsu, learning how to be subtle and most of all learning to use his own judgment rather than blindly follow the voice of Shukaku.

He had run through A and S-ranked missions in spades. He began to gain attention from clients due to his unmatched prowess and power. But the issue was of his reputation. He was a naturally calm and stoic individual having trouble grasping and understanding the emotions of others. His emotional ineptitude had just reinforced an image of a ruthless killer, which at first scared off many potential clients.

Which was why he was grateful he had a sister as intelligent as Temari. She had brazenly lied to and manipulated countless clients and nobles to paint the image of suffering and misunderstood child. And who could forget Kankuro's proudly claiming in the Daimyos office that Gaara was the strongest shinobi that Suna had ever produced.

While he had been central to keeping Suna afloat, he couldn't have done it without his siblings. Those two had truly proven to be the most important people in his life because he could always count on them to have his back no matter what the situation or the cost.

Gradually his image began to be rehabilitated. He didn't understand why but people seemed to love the story of the poor boy who suffered from demonic possession for years before he had begun to valiantly fight it off to save his village. It sounded completely fictional, yet they loved it.

He actually began to become somewhat popular for it. It puzzled him because it seemed so…fake. They were basing their opinion of him from a twisted and fabricated story rather than actual facts. It had confused him to no end, but he had pushed it aside at the time.

But what it did do was grant the villages the missions they were so desperate for. With Gaara taking on the bulk of these missions by himself, he had provided his village some much-needed breathing room. They began to save up the revenue from these missions and began to slowly rebuild their village. Faith in Suna's capabilities was returning, which helped give them more and more missions. Under the watchful guidance of the village elders, the village began to rebuild and restructure. By the time Gaara took office, big changes were already set in motion. With a rehabilitated image and fame from saving Suna from sinking, Gaara ascended as the Godaime Kazekage.

And then it was time to acknowledge the elephant in the room.

He wasn't Kazekage to protect everybody or to prove himself. No, he realized he became Kazekage because he wanted a chance to actually be a family with his siblings. Keeping Suna alive gave them that chance and deep down that was the true reason he was willing to sacrifice himself to the position at such a young age. He would continue to do it, to give them a home; a place to feel safe and welcome. That was the true reason he wished to be Kazekage.

The village 'accepting' him was a shallow gesture. He was their leader and their best chance for survival. For now, they would stay loyal as long as they recognized that. Maybe in the future, they'd come to truly hold affection for him or maybe not. He wasn't overly concerned with it as long as he could keep Kankuro and Temari safe and happy.

His thoughts were broken when he noticed the paper shimmer lightly and a block of text replace the first message.

* * *

_YES! It works! A two-hour delay is kind of annoying but it's better than nothing. Hopefully, I should have a fully functional model in a few more months. I haven't got a name for this yet but I think I'll call it Sora no Tegami (letters of the sky) for now._

_Ah good old paperwork. There's a running joke in Konoha of how long it'll take the Hokage to realize they can use clones to help them in completing it. As for becoming Hokage, I don't plan on for quite a while now. There's a lot of things stirring up, I'm sure you've noticed._

_That's the main reason I'm been training. I've got a lot of people counting on me and I can't let them down. Don't be surprised if I run circles around you when we fight again =)_

_-Naruto, 11:07 am_

* * *

Two hours…it took close to two days to send messages between Konoha and Suna with messenger hawks. Being able to send messages in a matter of hours was something other villages would wage war over.

He couldn't help but chuckle mirthlessly. After all, what wasn't a possible cause for war these days. Shaking his head he began to draft his response to Naruto.

* * *

**Iwagakure:**

Iwa hated Konoha. It was as well known as people knew the sky is blue.

Kids as young as four or five were raised with the belief that Konoha was made of nothing but a bunch of greedy, two-faced thieves. That they were responsible for bringing so much death and destruction upon their great village. An inspiring tale to motivate kids to put their all in their efforts and to provide a way for them all to bond.

But this hatred paled in comparison to what they held against one man - Namikaze Minato.

The average Iwa shinobi was almost fanatical in their distaste for the Kiiroi Senko. It was a common trend to despise those that took loved ones from you. Minato had killed a thousand Iwa shinobi, causing almost everybody in the village to lose somebody they knew. Their parent, their sibling, their lover, their friend, their family, their comrade. But it went beyond just an intense hatred.

His name and moniker were akin to a devil or a boogeyman. Never to be spoken and only to be uttered in harsh pronouns and curses.

Their loathing had stemmed from the near-mythical stature Minato had reached in his death. He had become less and less human with each passing iteration of his tale, more akin to a deity or the devil in Iwa's case.

Onokhi was different though. A lifetime of experience and hardships had kept him rational, allowing to see the truth behind the legend.

Nobody would ever admit that more than anything, Iwa's pride had been dented by his feat. The Third War had been going in Iwa's favor nearly the entire duration. They'd made all the right calls, won all the important battles, killed the right people. Their shinobi had been trained ruthlessly to turn into literal juggernauts. Facing an Iwa kill squad had become a death sentence with their deadly use of Doton ninjutsu and aggressive combat styles.

They had been all but assured victory. Everything had been set for them to snatch it…

But it all changed in a few seconds.

How could anybody rationalize the slaughter of a thousand of Iwa's finest shinobi by a single man in the span of several seconds? Sure, they knew he used the Hiraishin jutsu, an incredibly refined space-time technique, but to achieve such a thing?

It was so surreal that it made Minato's powers look supernatural.

More importantly though, it was a slap to their pride, not from an entire village but a single man.

A man who was in his early twenties and didn't hail from any of Konoha's great clans. A civilian origin orphan with no bloodlines or inherited techniques…

Before they could even wrap their heads around it, Minato became one of the youngest Kage in history. He called for a ceasefire and every village obeyed. How could you not? Nobody understood the Hiraishin or its working so all they could look at was what it was capable of…

Right, killing an army.

Every village had been forced to his terms on the treaties following the Third War, which just dented their pride even further and sowed even more resentment. They had to agree to his terms and were under the thumb of the man who had stolen their well-earned victory.

Then he went and martyred himself when the Kyuubi attacked! The feat of 'defeating' the Kyuubi had raised his legend to a practical god-like state. With the sense of mysticism, he had evoked through his Hiraishin many started to believe Konoha had achieved a way to kill a bijuu.

It was Minato's legend, not the man that was compared to the likes of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama. Having faced the former and been fortunate enough to survive, he would confidently say that while Minato was incredibly powerful and deserving of his title, he didn't hold a candle to those two.

But his shinobi didn't know that. To them he had supernatural powers, causing their hate for him to transform into demonization.

_If you don't eat your veggies, the Kiiroi Senko will come and snatch you away._

He scoffed at that. He should have loathed the Yondaime Hokage more than anybody else in the village. He had lost more comrades, friends and family members than he could count, the worst of which was his daughter-in-law, leaving his dear granddaughter to grow up without a mother. But he was not so naïve…

He couldn't begrudge Konoha for protecting themselves considering Iwa was doing the exact same thing. But the harshness of life and loss of three shinobi wars had driven a sense of bitterness. They had been broken; demoralized with no hope. So, the only way he had seen to allow his village to cope was to channel the rage and anger they had towards their enemies. Propaganda against other villages especially Konoha, to showcase them as selfish and pompous fools. To remind his village of the Will of Stone, to allow them to move forward and regrow. It worked because with Minato; such a huge object of their hate; gone, it transferred towards his village, something that he had fought so hard to protect.

It had been a dangerous ploy. Passions had run rampant, allowing them to resurge but it had created more than a few headaches. There was almost a single-minded focus towards their duty often skewing their judgment. Even his best and most experienced shinobi were likely to do something to provoke another village. He had ended up cultivating aggressive attitudes and, in his shortsightedness, had failed to notice and purge it.

No sane ninja ever advocated war, especially when they had experienced one. It tended to be the civilians and younger generations who were more bloodlusted, not understanding the true horrors that came with war. But it didn't mean his shinobi weren't likely to provoke another village. In fact, they were far more likely than any other village given they had always adopted expansionist policies. It was only a matter of time before somebody decided to take matters in their own hands and did something reckless.

It was frustrating! In the aftermath of Konoha being invaded by Suna and Oto, the entire village had been up in arms. It was a sign of weakness! The Sandaime Hokage was finally gone and they were leaderless! It was their time to strike!

'The bastards were finally weak!' 'Let's get them while they're down!' 'The Kiiroi Senko will pay'

Onokhi would have liked nothing more than to see such a major competitor go down in flames but he had been grounded by looking at the facts.

First, Konoha may have been weakened but they had enough numbers to continue to accept missions. It had risen back to normal levels by the time Tsunade had become Godaime, which meant that they hadn't been weakened enough to be completely rolled over. Their numbers and morale were evidently sufficient to allow them to function in the aftermath, best not to test to what extent.

Second, fighting them on their home turf gave them quite a major disadvantage. One would expect having to defend civilians and their home would afford hostages and leeway, but familiarity with the terrain and having free access to all the resources they needed right there gave them several rather large tactical advantages.

Which brought him to the third reason why he was reluctant to do so; Konoha was not only very far away but most routes to get to it were difficult and filled with hurdles. The most direct route would be by going through Taki no Kuni, but the land was a literal maze being very difficult to navigate through. While they could try it out, it wasn't feasible for a large invading force since the chances of losing their way were far higher. Entering Kusa no Kuni had become exponentially more difficult with the destruction of Kannabi Bridge. It was still possible in small groups but the overall effort it would take wouldn't be worth any potential payoffs from their invasion. Ame no Kuni was under permanent lock-down, and despite their dealings with the Akatsuki, he was doubtful they'd allow an army to pass through their lands. Going around it would take far too much time and it would require them to enter the deserts of Kaze no Kuni which would only make the trip more arduous.

But it all boiled down to the fact that an invading force was a big one. It would require a large amount of resources, transportation of which was very difficult on long journeys. There was a limit on how much they could carry with them. Invest too little then the invasion would fail and he'd lose his men to a pointless venture. Investing too much would just be wasteful since they already faced a lack of resources in their land. There were too many variables influencing the potential outcome, so he erred with the side of caution and asked his village to stand down.

His subordinates didn't see it, but invading Konoha was close to impossible at the time.

It wasn't that he couldn't deal with riots or a coup – no, it was just annoying and a waste of the shinobi who he would have to kill. He had played it smartly, claiming they would keep watch of Konoha to see how strong they were. He managed to buy enough time for them to get a new Hokage in the form of Tsunade. A few white lies and distorting facts – and voila! He'd managed to calm his village down.

But he couldn't keep doing it forever. He was old and tired. He remained Tsuchikage because he did not see a worthy successor yet. Eventually, he'd be forced to confront Konoha and his greatest fear was that it would fail miserably.

…until recently.

As much as he detested Deidara's warped use of their respected Bakuton Kekkai Genkai, his little _tantrum _had led him straight to the Akatsuki. Based in Amegakure, they were a mysterious organization said to be composed to solely S-ranked nukenin. He had been skeptical of this claim at first until he first reached out to them.

In all his time in contact with them, he hadn't been able to glean even a little information beyond the rumors floating around. He had yet to meet a single one of their members, yet they completed S-ranked missions with ease, and at a measly price to boot!

He hadn't been comfortable with the idea of so many powerful nukenin banding together, but he had chosen to ignore it because they had provided him just what Iwa had needed. S-ranked missions cost an arm and a leg, but the Akatsuki's rates granted them a huge, huge margin. All that profit had been funneled towards providing easier access to the resources they so desperately needed and training his shinobi.

It had been steady work, but they had finally attained a level of strength comparable to their peak during the buildup to the Third War. The caution he was forced to exercise in order to prevent provoking the other villages was no longer necessary. Their army was the second largest in the world, having been carefully built for over a decade. His men were tough as steel having faced such tough times in a harsh land.

It had been almost hard to believe but it was a dream come true. Iwa was ready to move forward and lay claim to other lands. With even the slightest amount of agricultural land or access to raw material, Iwa would no doubt flourish having endured significant shortages of both for decades. With a sizeable army and hardened shinobi, their supremacy would be unquestioned and they would finally surpass Konoha as the strongest hidden village. The blue bloods, including the various nobles and feudal lords, were always drawn towards powerful villages. As the balance of power between them swayed, as did the funding and mission requests. And that was what they needed right now.

They were gaining their fearsome strength from the Third War, the type where they could crush any village that stood in their way. The Akatsuki would be more than happy to join in since they made a living of fighting other people's wars. If the rumors of having ten S-ranked nukenin in their ranks were true…then it was all the less reason to worry.

Now if only he could find a way to replace Han and Roshi.

Those two were major disappointments in his eyes. Jinchuriki were meant to be nothing more than tools to shift the balance of power. The village that possessed the more trained jinchuriki had a greater influence on this balance. Look at Kumo, with the Hachibi jinchuriki said to be able to completely control the beast, nobody would dare attack the village fearing the wrath of the beast.

After all what sane man wouldn't fear the power of a bijuu?

Such mysterious beings…nobody knew where they came from or what exactly they were. What was important though was that they were masses of chakra that could level a village, if not a country with ease. Their destructive capabilities made even some of the mightiest of shinobi look like a rampaging toddler. For centuries, the bijuu were considered bringers of destruction and mayhem, having more in common with natural disasters than anything else.

And then came one man wielding a Kekkai Genkai capable of capturing and suppressing them…Senju Hashirama had caused a worldwide panic when rumors of him capturing the Nanabi had spread. Nobody understood the exact capabilities of the Mokuton or if it was capable of actively controlling a bijuu.

Which was why they had been equally baffled with him 'gifting' the Nanabi to the nascent minor village Takigakure.

The story behind it was even more ridiculous!

Takigakure had wished to cement their status in the world and had sent an assassin after the Shodai Hokage. Unsurprisingly it had failed, but the man had either spared him or had been sloppy and hadn't finished the job. Regardless, the assassin went home to a less than warm treatment being stigmatized and severely punished which caused him to snap, kill most of the village's rulers and flee with a powerful kinjutsu.

It had left the village extremely weakened and on the brink of collapse. Hashirama had felt pity for them out the fact that most civilians within the country had moved to Takigakure for protection. To save them he had gifted them the Nanabi apparently to allow them to utilize its major villages threw a major stink over this.

Many respected Hashirama for his power, but it was obvious that the man was far too naïve to be Hokage. He had distributed the remaining seven bijuu among the four other major villages, along with sealing techniques from the Uzumaki clan to seal them away within either an inanimate object or an actual human being…

Thus, began the practice of creating jinchuriki. The name had been coined somewhere in Kirigakure and had spread rapidly when the first container of the Sanbi had lost his mind and leveled a small civilian town by releasing the beast.

Training an S-ranked nin was time-consuming, risky as they tended to have some mental or emotional deficit causing them to snap or defect, and most importantly almost never panned out. It took decades to train them and for them to hone their skills.

In theory, a jinchuriki should have always been able to become an S-ranked nin if not an outright army killer. Even if they were incapable shinobi, the ability to access a bijuu's chakra granted them incredible power, enough to match even the strongest and most capable of shinobi. With a small portion of a bijuu's chakra, they were capable of matching an S-ranked nin. Mastery over a significant portion of the bijuu's chakra would allow them to accomplish feats similar to the Kiiroi Senko's. Even a thousand jonin couldn't hope to match the power of a well-trained jinchuriki. But again, this was in theory

In practice training a jinchuriki was a near-impossible task.

Mental instability and jinchuriki practically went hand-in-hand. How many had snapped releasing their beast only for them to restart the process? Their power was far more likely to make them rebellious rather than obedient which was a risk to the village. They couldn't afford for them to turn on the village or defect. Obedience had to be forced, but it never worked.

In all of history, only two jinchuriki had held the claim of controlling their bijuu, but Yagura's claims were doubtful considering he'd snapped and started a genocide, suggesting his bijuu have had a lot larger hold over him than he believed.

Training a jinchuriki took time and effort like a regular ninja, but there was yet to be a jinchuriki that had lived a long life serving their village faithfully.

And this was why Onokhi believed Han and Roshi, his current jinchuriki, were nothing but broken weapons. Their purpose had been to obediently serve the village.

Not think for themselves.

Not protest being hated and isolated.

Not make demands for fair treatment.

And especially not refuse to fight on his command.

They were broken weapons.

It was annoying as hell that they could stay out of his radar. But the Akatsuki had been keeping tabs on them for him. All he had to do was hope that they'd kill those two insolent brats. It had been a while since he had personally _disciplined _a jinchuriki, but this time he'd make sure that there wouldn't be a need for it.

He'd make sure that his new weapons wouldn't even know the concept of freedom.

But it was too late for that now…Iwa was already on the move towards realizing their true potential. It took time to train a jinchuriki. He pictured himself having two obedient little attack dogs by his side when Iwa reached the top of the world.

* * *

_Don't think you're the only one who has been training. I've learned from my ba__ttles against you, the Uchiha and Lee-san that I can't simply rely on my absolute defense alone. I've picked up a few new tricks, so don't be surprised when you fall flat on your back._

_But I must agree that there are some worrying signs around the world. Iwa's sudden mobilizations don't inspire much confidence. The situation in Kiri is still murky, nobody can be sure what they will try in the future. Kumo has been unusually quiet, which we can only assume means they might be planning something big._

_If that wasn't bad enough it seems that the minor villages are following this trend. Several new ones have been popping up and the old ones have been showing a lot more confidence in moving against the major villages. Amegakure for one has continued to be in lockdown despite rumors of Hanzo the Salamander's passing. Every time the balance of power begins to sway, catastrophe descends upon our lands_

_It's unfortunate but Suna has become entrapped in a web of fear over starting the next war. We stand by and do nothing because we can't afford to start anything with other villages, even the minor ones. They say being a good man doing nothing is the greatest of sins. I keep asking myself, how much does doing the right thing weigh against protecting my home?_

_-Gaara, 1:13 pm_

* * *

**Kirigakure:**

The bloody mist…

Terumi Mei wished there was an easy way to get people to forget about that era. An era that would forever mar Kiri's reputation, painting them as the most bloodthirsty and cutthroat band of shinobi in the world. Even other shinobi villages regarded them as nothing more than a bunch of savages. Just picture what clients and benefactors thought? Clients and benefactors who were powerless against ninja.

She was somewhat thankful that she held the Water daimyos favor…ok, she totally led him on and manipulated the poor unwitting bastard. It felt somewhat cheap to use her looks to get her way considering she was a powerful and well-respected kunoichi, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make for her home. With her taking the helm, Kiri's image began to rehabilitate since many viewed her as a hero for ending Yagura's genocidal reign. But people didn't forget so easily, especially when the taint stretched back from far before.

It had begun with the Sandaime Mizukage's rule, where every decision made was centered around the obsession of making Kiri the most feared hidden village. Not the most powerful, not the most popular but the most feared.

Every shinobi had their own way of adapting to the nature of their profession. Some used their vices to distract them, others rationalized their enemies were evil, several compartmentalized themselves into two separate people on and off duty.

But of all of these methods…the most dangerous type would be when an individual began to relish killing. No doubt every village faced such an issue, but she also knew that no _sane_ Kage would condone promoting such a coping mechanism.

Apparently the Sandaime thought that shinobi who enjoyed killing would have a stronger will than shinobi who didn't. From manuscripts of his old speeches, his reasoning went something along the lines of his shinobi not only being more hardened towards the cruelty of their world but they would also look forward to performing missions and fighting for the sake of their village.

Unsurprisingly it had gone far differently than the Sandaime had envisioned. Forcing prospective genin to turn on their classmates was traumatizing. It led to a major portion of Kiri ninja being somewhat mentally unbalanced, which was only worsened by being forced to adopt violent and barbaric practices and beliefs. The average Kiri ninja became far more bloodthirsty than their counterparts elsewhere and clans that were already inclined towards violence became outright savage.

The Hozuki and Kaguya clans particularly stood out.

Most of their bloodthirst ended up not directed outwards towards their enemies but towards the very citizens, they were meant to protect. Homicide rates within Mizu no Kuni spiked and Kiri itself had become dangerous even for the ninja living within it. She remembered during her Academy days how she had to return straight home after classes, and nobody ever stepped out after dark. More than once she almost had a heart attack stepping into a dark alley by accident.

Thankfully Zabuza's _little stunt_ had forced them to discontinue the graduation test. He had been a selfish bastard for trying his own coup tipping off Yagura to the rebellion, but the one good from him that had come was the end of the graduation requirement. Countless lives had been saved and the current crop of Kiri ninja didn't face the same issues as their predecessors.

Things were supposed to change under Yagura, many had great expectations of him. He was a calm and collected individual who had gained immense respect for his ability to wield his bijuu's chakra without losing control. Kiri liked to state he had complete control as a method of intimidation against their enemies, but he wasn't a so-called perfect jinchuriki.

But nobody would have imagined he turned out to be an unhinged genocidal tyrant. Many believed that it was simply the true nature of a jinchuriki and Yagura had finally dropped the act once he had achieved a position of power.

Mei knew differently. She had worked with Yagura on numerous occasions and she could say with absolute confidence that Yagura _became _unhinged. Anybody who had interacted with him before he became Mizukage would agree with her. As time went one, he became increasingly incoherent with his thoughts and speech jumping between multiple different points at once. The calmness he formerly had slowly gave way to a disturbing level of paranoia, so much so that it was palpable to everybody around him.

But what had really tipped off the shinobi population that something was wrong was the sudden bouts of manic rage where he would summon the Sanbi's chakra and give off a terrifying aura. She could still remember the look in his eyes during one of those initial episodes…he looked like somebody else had taken the place of the man she had come to know over several years.

Nobody had dared to make a move against him. He was already feared for his skill being an undisputed Kage level shinobi even without the Sanbi. The truth was most of the forces that remained loyal to him had done so out of fear of the man. And she didn't blame them given what a fearsome power he held.

Yagura's declaration of the bloodline purges had ripped the country apart. Not only were bloodline users and clans eliminated and chased out, but it caused mass defection of some of their most valuable military assets. The Seven Swordsman of the Mist broke apart with most of the swords being taken with them. Utakata the Rokubi jinchuriki defecting was a major blow for the rebellion given he was one of the few shinobi who could have hoped to face Yagura in single combat.

The state of the country had slowed down efforts to overthrow Yagura. The rebellion had taken years to amass the resources and methods to end Yagura. Years where countless lost their lives and so many had made sacrifices to help their cause.

If only Yagura hadn't lost himself…if Kiri had remained united they could have had the power to match the rival hidden villages. Instead, they were left vulnerable with a somewhat pitiful force compared to the other major villages except for Suna. Practically no bloodline users left, the Seven Swordsman reduced to just the talented but meek and fragile Chojuro. The country as a whole was still suffering in the aftermath. Widespread poverty, giant slums in every corner and mass starvation.

The entire nation was in a rut and there was the constant fear of another village deciding to invade certainly didn't help. The fact that they were a series of islands of the mainland provided some form of deterrence but it wasn't like the harsh deserts of Suna or the deadly whirlpools surrounding Uzu. No…it was simply a matter of distance, so if a village decided they wanted to invade them there was really little they could do.

The best way forward was to ally themselves with another one of the big five. It was a risky move because it would expose their vulnerability and they didn't have much to offer. If it didn't work it was practically assuring an invasion and the end of Kirigakure.

There was no way in hell it was going to be Iwa. The distance spanning several villages was the least of their worries, which was saying something. The Tragedy of Yosuga Pass had shaken the village because Iwa had absolutely nothing to gain from their betrayal since the document was useless to them.

It had been an act of spite since Iwa had been humiliated during the most recent chunin exams that occurred shortly before. They had sent an unusually large contingent off which none made it past a very difficult first exam. It had reflected poorly on them and they saw it as a way to even the score.

Alliances were based on some level of mutual trust and Kiri would never trust Iwa. Then there was the fact that Iwa was moving dangerously close towards starting the next world war, something Kiri couldn't handle for the foreseeable future.

What had made it worse was when Kiri demanded compensation for their betrayal the Tsuchikage had openly ridiculed them and stating he wouldn't hesitate to do such a thing again.

Kumo seemed like a reasonable choice. Kaminari no Kuni had a bustling economy and in monetary terms, they would provide the best assistance. They also happened to be the closes hidden village. Yet…Mei would rather avoid Kumo, and most of her reasons stemmed from the Yondaime Raikage.

She had met many incredible shinobi in her life but for the life of her, she would never understand how Kumo functioned with such a thick-headed leader. She met the man during the chunin exams that were held in Suna a few months prior and she had absolutely loathed the sexist pig.

He claimed to acknowledge people based on their strength, but she had read between the line of what he was saying.

He thought that females were incapable of being strong or worthy of being a Kage.

This had been especially ballsy considering that two female Kage were present, herself and Senju Tsunade. She had decided to ignore the buffoon of a man but the Hokage had called the man out openly and put him in place.

It had been satisfying to watch.

Kunoichi facing such prejudices was a basic truth. They were considered weaker, only fit to stay at home and of being incapable of leading. Many had questioned her capabilities as a leader in the initial stages of the rebellion, of whether she'd be able to match a Kage level ninja much less a jinchuriki.

These had been quashed rather quickly when she had left Yagura with several third-degree burns after their first encounter. She really did live for the little things.

There was a sense of mutual respect for the two, being the first two female Kage in history. She knew if she made an offer to ally with Konoha, Tsunade would hear her out and it came with the bonus of most probably allying with Suna as well. She had taken a liking to the young Kazekage showing far more maturity and sensibility than men two or three times his age.

A bloc consisting of three of the major villages? That would consolidate a major amount of the world's powers even in Kiri and Suna's weakened states. It was unprecedented and as always risky but they all stood to gain much. Iwa, Kumo, and other minor villages were unlikely to try and challenge them and this could, in theory, delay a potential Fourth War by several generations.

But she wouldn't respect Tsunade if she was driven by base sentimentality. While such an alliance posed immense benefits, they were _future _benefits and posed monumental risks. For one supporting a hidden village wasn't exactly cheap and there was the risk of pulling out of the alliance once they received the aid they required. True Mei wouldn't try such a thing, but Konoha didn't know that. For all they were concerned they were still the bloody mist.

And it was doubtful the other villages would sit quietly and let them form something of this sort. For all, she knew it could be the spark that started the Fourth War.

But she had to try. For the sake of her home and her people, she had to try to forge this alliance because it could mean the difference between the survival or end of Kiri.

Now the only thing that could improve her mood was if that damned team scouting for entrances into Uzushiogakure would turn up. All those riches buried down there and nobody had ever thought to look…really, for all their claims of being clever, most shinobi really were rather dull.

* * *

_You can't hold yourself accountable for what other villages choose to do. Your duty is to your home and to your family. No matter what path we choose there will be some consequence which we'll have to live with._

_I'm guessing this is just the stress from your duties talking. Wasn't there anybody else who could take the role on? You're fifteen and it just seems so premature to have you sitting behind a desk when you haven't even reached your prime yet. Was the village even ok with you being chosen? No offense._

_Though I have to admit, it's kind of scary thinking of you getting a __**lot **__stronger than you were, and like I said you aren't even in your prime yet! And Suna's in the middle of a desert, you know filled with lots and lots of sand. I really envy the sucker who messes with you._

_-Naruto, 3:17 pm_

* * *

**Konohagakure:**

What made Konoha the most powerful shinobi village in the world?

A fresh-faced twenty-something chunin; the poster boy for the village, would claim it was their dependence on teamwork and their Will of Fire.

But Tsunade knew the answer wasn't so simple. To understand Konoha's position today one had to look at their history and how its leaders shaped the village and its institutions to bring it where it was.

During its founding days, Konoha's power was unquestioned, possessing the two shinobi titans, Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara – men who were compared to gods, whose battles reshaped entire maps and leveled small countries. Alone either of them could easily destroy any shinobi village even at its peak.

Which was why Hashirama's death was such an oddity. Many believed he died during the First Shinobi World War from a trap…hilarious was a bit of an understatement

The man who reshaped maps remember? Do you seriously think a simple exploding tag would be enough?

No, the truth was her grandfather had died from a long ailing illness. He had been ill for many years but the worst of it had hit him in the last few months of his life that had occurred several months before the First War. She was the only person still alive that was aware of this.

Watching him deteriorate over the course of several months had inspired her to learn everything about the human body and the effects of chakra on it that she could. After decades of training and studying, she had come to learn exactly why her grandfather had passed.

In an ironic turn of events, his Mokuton and regenerative abilities caused cancer. Another anomaly, given that those who had access to chakra rarely faced complications from typical diseases like this.

There was a reason nobody could replicate Hashirama's Mokuton. It was because his jutsu was composed of living cells rather than inanimate matter. But even he couldn't defy the basic rules of life, he couldn't create life from nothing. No, his chakra simply enabled rapid and endless division and differentiation of cells. A single one of his own cells were used to begin the technique but it was capable of producing massive structures instantly. It was the same reason that he could use iryo-ninjutsu without hand-signs since his chakra nature enabled cellular divisions.

Cells within certain organs naturally died during a person's life but were replaced by others dividing. Organs like the skin and gut divided rapidly, organs like the liver much more slowly while areas like the brain and nervous system it was almost non-existent. In some cases due to mutations picked up or from genetic predisposition, the body lost the ability to control these divisions and they went on to divide excessively. As this happened they would pick up more and more mutations giving the cells the ability to replicate endlessly. But this also meant they lost most of their functions and prevented their organs from functioning normally. Hashirama was still human at the end of the day and his chakra left him predisposed to this. His cells were immortalized as a consequence of his cancer which allowed the likes of Orochimaru to make use of it decades after his passing and to experiment with it.

But people never found out about this. No, her granduncle Tobirama had realized that if news of Hashirama's death spread it would be inviting all the other villages to attack them. As much as she loved her grandfather, she had to admit that he had made several bone-headed moves the biggest of which was distributing the bijuu among the other villages.

Think of it this way…if you locked a group of hundred civilians in a room together, where the chances of somebody killing another higher if everybody had a kunai or if they didn't.

His logic had been baffling, thinking that the other villages would safer and be more assured if they had a powerful weapon such as that to 'protect' themselves. Sure it fell in line with the whole peace and understand a thing of the Senju but was it really a smart move?

No…it had been a shortsighted move to appease everybody else. The First Shinobi War started due to rumors of Hashirama's sickness and death. Tobirama being the brilliant man he was had one of his shinobi Henge into Hashirama while he acted as Hokage from the shadows. It had deterred the initial stirrings of the war. Unfortunately, this shinobi ended up falling into a trap and perishing which resulted in his official death being caused by an exploding tag.

But what many didn't realize was that Tobirama had been secretly acting as the Hokage well before he took over the helm from Hashirama. He had realized that once news of Hashirama's death spread, the other villages would stop at nothing to take them down. Konoha would have to be strong enough to stand on its own two feet without Hashirama.

Most people would regard the Shodai Hokage and the Yondaime as the most popular Hokages. It was understandable given they both had the greatest reputations. But the former had been a poor choice as Hokage and the latter had passed away before he could make any real impacts.

The Nidaime and Sandaime had been the true rulers of Konoha, being entirely responsible for Konoha turning into the powerhouse it was today. Tobirama had been the visionary, the one who established numerous important institutions, laws, and beliefs that had become central to Konoha but Sarutobi had been the one to ensure their implementations and improving it during his long, long reign. It was the efforts of these two that had allowed Konoha to win all three wars and remain at the top of the world despite never having shinobi even remotely close to Hashirama or Madara.

The four central establishments of Konoha were the ANBU black ops, the shinobi, and mission ranking system, the shinobi Academy and the Reserve Corps.

First came the ANBU black ops. They were an anonymous force meant to carry out both the toughest missions and the ones most likely to produce a fallout with clients. The anonymity of the ANBU gave the village plausible deniability since they could claim there was either nukenin or unaffiliated to the village. Under the Sandaime's rule, the ANBU truly became a force to be reckoned with thanks to the guidance of Shimura Danzo. The training regimen and initiation test were so intense that even the most experienced jonin would weep. No other village had been able to create a black-ops force as comprehensive because they didn't realize that they existed until the end of the Second War.

Second, came the practice of organizing and classifying both shinobi and missions on a scale from D to S. The warring clans' era had produced a horrifying habit of sending out children out to fight before they even knew to hold a kunai properly. Konoha had been founded to avoid such a thing from happening and the Nidaime being the ever-meticulous man he was designed in a very logical manner to prevent its continuation.

Shinobi were separated into three distinct ranks which were each judged based on the skill, experience, and leadership of the ninja. There was genin – rookie ninja, chunin – journeymen ninja and jonin – elite ninja. The Sandaime created a set of general guidelines to help identify whether a ninja was deserving of a promotion or not. It was designed to provide as much of a cushion to younger ninja as possible. Genin were given time to grow and develop before they began to take risks.

Then there was also the addition of tokubetsu jonin, a rank unique to Konoha, which helped motivate chunin to train harder. Jonin promotions were incredibly difficult, to say the least, with less than five percent of chunin ever being promoted to the rank. But becoming a tokubetsu jonin was far easier as you simply had to display jonin level proficiency in your area of specialty and one other field, rather than being well-rounded in all fields. Many of Konoha's tokubetsu jonin were valuable assets, something they weren't assured of realizing if they felt they were stuck as chunin.

An example would be Shiranui Genma. He had incredible talent in ninjutsu shown by his capability to use the Hiraishin no justu with Iwashi and Raido. But his general abilities in most other shinobi arts such as taijutsu, genjutsu and shurikenjutsu were about as good as most chunin. In any other village his talent in ninjutsu alone wouldn't be enough to justify a promotion to jonin but in Konoha he was rewarded for his talent and gave him plenty of reason to continue working hard.

Third came the shinobi academy. A place where prospective shinobi would be provided a safe and nurturing environment to learn the basics of chakra and shinobi life. At first, it was designed to be for simply a year but the Sandaime both the admission age and the graduation ages. By the time of the Third War, admittance began at six and graduation was by nine. The Sandaime went on further to flesh out the jonin-genin system to allow genin maximal protection even if it meant sacrificing some of their best jonin from taking on more missions. Every other village used jonin sensei to fill a mentor role rather than a permanent figure to guide and protect them. The success of the system was evidenced by the conversion and mortality rates between villages.

Almost all genin in Konoha became chunin, though this was thanks mostly due to the Reserve Corps. This was the fourth system and arguably the most important system introduced by Sarutobi. The Academy typically graduated a class of thirty at a time, but only up to nine genin passed the true genin test. A week was provided between graduation and the genin test in order to decide which nine genin were most likely to pass and to generate the best possible team combinations. These nine genin were referred to as the 'Primary Genin'. They had priority in missions, promotions, and training since they were considered to be the ones with the greatest talent and most likely to become valuable assets to the village. It was often these genin that went on to become high ranking jonin of world renown.

But what of the other ninja? If nine genin or less entered the force each years it would be very difficult to actually sustain their numbers considering death on missions was constant in their work. So to avoid this, those genin that passed the Academy but failed the genin test weren't simply thrown back to the Academy. Rather they were placed on reserves and given rigorous remedy classes for an entire school year. Following this, they would take on various mundane but necessary tasks for the village for about two years. Most ended up becoming desk chunins, the type who took on administrative jobs and helped with the basic running of the village. A good example would be a receptionist at the Hokage's tower or an Academy instructor like Iruka. But even a desk chunin was half-competent at combat and were given routine missions to keep their skills sharp.

Konoha as a consequence had a large population of well trained and highly competent chunin. It was simple math considering chunin made up the bulk of any army and as a result. And they could always be used to perform extra missions or help filling numbers during times of recovery like during their time between Sarutobi's death and Tsunade taking office.

But the village had changed so much in the time she had been away since the end of the Third War. Her sensei was a wise and intelligent man but he wasn't infallible. Age had evidently caught up with him during his second tenure leading him to make several questionable decisions.

For one the Academy had been relaxed far too much. She understood that Konoha believed in giving civilian-origin children a chance to become ninja. After all Minato and Jiraiya, two of the strongest shinobi in the world came from a civilian background. But there had to be a balance between encouraging civilians to join in and making the Academy challenging enough to prepare these genin. A lot of strain had been placed on the Reserve Corps system because they effectively had to teach all washouts from scratch.

But to this level? All the Academy focused on was a very biased history to paint an image of Konoha being noble do-gooders who never did any wrong. Nepotism and favoritism ran rampant among the ranks going against the system that had helped produce the likes of Jiraiya and Minato.

Genin like Sakura got screwed over more often than not because the chance of them getting a jonin sensei that was a good match for their talents was very slim. Kakashi had been a terrible match for her but she had been put on a team with Naruto and Sasuke to fill the support role in a heavy assault team. Kakashi was far too aloof a person to teach somebody who had been sheltered due to their background like Sakura. Kurenai would have been an ideal sensei for her.

Did she mention something about nepotism and favoritism? It was disturbing to see how indifferent the village had become towards genin like Sakura. Clan children were huddled together in teams with one or two civilian genin used to fill the spot. It ended up screwing with team combinations for all the other teams.

But the problems weren't just in the lower levels. The ANBU black ops had become seriously pathetic, with them being nothing more than fodder who just stood around and got mowed down when the situation went south.

Reading his journal, it was clear that his mental faculties weren't as sharp as they used to be. He tended to forget things, couldn't complete thoughts and had become slightly less observant. He was still capable of running a village with his experience but not as efficiently as it should have been. His judgment had truly become somewhat skewed with him making some terrible decisions, such as Danzo after he outright tried to assassinate him and allowing Kumo to bully them during the Hyuuga affair to name a few.

She couldn't blame him completely. He was had retired the first time around for a reason, but it didn't excuse him.

But of all his mistakes, the worst would have to be with regards to his attempts to condition and mold Naruto into a docile and obedient ninja who was completely devoted to the village. She had lost a lot of respect over it.

Naruto had gained a somewhat neutral reputation but there were still pockets that resented him for his status. Twelve years was far too long for them to hold it against the boy when he had never stolen or hurt a soul. A bunch of harmless pranks was hardly the same as starving and isolating him.

The cause of this had been the general attitude of the administration and clan heads. All of them would openly claim their affection and respect for Minato, but this was nothing but a shallow proclamation. What had they done for his orphaned son for the last twelve years?

Absolutely nothing.

What could a mob of civilians achieve against those who could bend the elements and defy the laws of physics? She understood that adoption was out of the question since it would only cause distrust among the clans but that wasn't an excuse for them to do nothing at all. What of encouraging their children to befriend him? What of giving him any sort of support? No…it had been easier for them to turn a blind eye and let the civilians mistreat him. Just providing physical protection when the occasional mob made attempts to harm him didn't justify years of isolation or abuse.

Sarutobi had allowed this. Instead of putting his foot down on an out-of-line village, he instead tried to control Naruto and filled his head with dreams and promises. He actively encouraged him to build a fabricated reality for himself and let the child live with his delusions. Sure, Naruto ended up miraculously well adjusted despite all this, but the ends didn't justify the means and it didn't even account for the long term consequences.

It had left him emotionally and socially stunted. Incredibly dangerous for a ninja and even more so given the fact that he was the Kyuubi's jinchuriki. In the short term, it kept him from snapping and becoming homicidal like Gaara, but what if suddenly one day all that denial came crashing down and he was faced with the cold hard reality that was his life?

That was exactly the type of thing that could tip Naruto over the edge and make him release the Kyuubi. He was incredibly strong-willed but when everything you thought you knew was a lie, you tended not to make the most rational of choices.

But one thing was for certain. She wasn't going to tolerate him being the village's punching bag and she hoped for Jiraiya's sake he was teaching Naruto not to either. Twelve years was far too long for people to get over the tragedy and Naruto deserved to have a place

Sometimes she wished she could go back in time and raise him as her own. It hadn't been her responsibility since Kushina had been a distant cousin and she had barely interacted with the woman but Naruto was family regardless. She had known that since the second she heard about him…

But she couldn't change the past. She was taking a page from her granduncle's book and enforcing her will with an iron fist. If you defied her laws, no clan laws or position was going to protect you. You broke her laws and you'd face the same punishment as everybody else.

Many hadn't been too pleased with this. They had got comfortable with the ways things were because they could get away with a lot of things and it just made their life easier.

One example was the practice of clans retiring their shinobi soon after they made chunin. This was especially prevalent among the Hyuuga and before their extinction the Uchiha. It occurred with other clans as well but to a much lesser extent. Overall, it was a very common practice. The village would invest tons of resources and time to train them as genin. They were given missions and gained experience there. Once they made chunin the village was supposed to be recompensated for their investment by them taking on missions for them.

But clans pulling out fresh chunin cut away from this. They used these shinobi to bolster their numbers and perform missions for them which were independent of the village's interests. There were certain provisions and laws protecting the sovereignty of the clans, but the line had to be drawn when it was costing Konoha. She was now enforcing very heavy fines for clans attempting to retire a fresh chunin before they served out a minimum number of years.

Some groups had tried to throw their influence around, make threats and even ridicule her in an attempt to stop these changes. But she had made it clear.

She was the Hokage, she was the law. Get in line or face punishment.

Sending the three elders of a dozen D-rank missions had shut all voices against these changes very quickly.

The problem with her sensei during his second reign was that he had been too afraid of stepping on toes and of triggering any sort of civil unrest. Tsunade didn't share that fear and she wasn't going to tolerate anybody risking her grandfather's village for their own selfish ends.

Most of all she wanted the village to feel like an actual home for Naruto rather than a place he just happened to live in. He deserved a village that didn't discriminate against him and treated him fairly. The only way people would start doing that was either to have a major attitude adjustment or for Naruto to start pounding their heads in. She didn't particularly mind the latter, but it wasn't good for him. If she had to suffer tons of paperwork and idiots coming to her office to complain than it was worth it.

Because she would protect him no matter what. That was her nindo.

* * *

_I must agree that it has been stressful. Most of the village has accepted me out of necessity rather than genuine belief or affection. They're still afraid of me and sometimes it really stings since I put everything into protecting them. Perhaps they may never stop fearing me but as long as I can keep my family safe, I can live with it._

_I've learned to use more than just my sand. I've worked on applying nature transformations to alter the properties of my sand. It's been slow work but I'm yielding some promising results. Unfortunately, I'm still limited by the amount of chakra infused sand I can carry around. I can generate sand from the earth but it takes considerable amounts of focus and chakra, as well as not being as responsive to my commands. I still have much to learn_

_Similarly, the idea of __**you **__getting a lot stronger if frightening. I suppose it is out of necessity. Between the other villages and the Akatsuki, there will be many who threaten us and all we love. I don't think anybody else would understand this better. We've always been oddly understanding of each other._

_\- Gaara, 6:02 pm_

* * *

**Kumogakure:**

Our tour of the elemental nations brings us to the final hidden village, Kumogakure. Village hidden in the clouds was something of a misnomer since the village was located very close to the ocean and their shinobi attire held great resemblance to a sailor's uniform. The name stemmed due to their preference towards using Raiton ninjutsu and initially was a ploy to mislead enemies into searching for the village among the many mountain ranges in Kaminari no Kuni.

The Third Shinobi War was the bloodiest and every village had suffered heavy blows from it. What made Kumo different though was that they could have remained neutral without consequence.

The initial conflict was sparked between Kusa and Iwa, which drew Konoha into the mix. As the fighting spread, it spilled into Kaze no Kuni forcing Suna to defend their lands. Konoha's invasion of Udon no Kuni drew Kiri in as the latter was under the protection of Kiri and Mizu no Kuni.

But Kumo? They had no stake in the war and had only joined in because they saw an opportunity to take down Konoha.

Alas, it had been a hasty and poorly thought out plan. Not only did they have to contend with Konoha but Kiri had turned their focus almost entirely upon Kumo turning what seemed like an easy victory into an international bloodbath.

They didn't manage to make much progress on Konoha's front either thanks to Namikaze Minato holding off their two strongest shinobi, the future Yondaime Raikage and Kirabi the Hachibi jinchuriki. Kumo had been somewhat intimidated by the show of power. But when the same man went and slaughtered a thousand Iwa ninja…

They had sounded the retreat from Konoha's Eastern flank _very _quickly. They had lost some ninja as Kiri chased them but thankfully they had been too occupied with Konoha to continue to chase them.

Kumo had lost the least men in the war, but they had lost the most unnecessarily. Their greed had cost them heavily and had left them needlessly weakened.

But Ai refused to acknowledge that fact. He was a proud warrior and he wanted to see that same pride reflected in his village when he became Raikage. He well and truly used to believe that no action to strengthen the village was needless regardless of the cost.

But that view had been shattered rather quickly by the Hyuuga affair and it had almost caused the village to fall apart into civil war.

Surprised? The entire scandal had been a very ballsy play. Despite Kumo's claims to the contrary, all the evidence pointed to the fact that they had tried to kidnap a three-year old girl to eventually use as breeding stock. Even civilians, who were blissfully unaware of the happening of the shinobi world had come to know this. Kumo had been treated with disgust and disdain by shinobi and civilians both inside and outside their village.

The demand for services and investment in a hidden village was incredibly dependent on the image that they projected. They had begun to experience something of a boycott and it had been extremely worrying.

Even shinobi within the village had been outraged. It was like the Third War all over again. They _needlessly _almost provoked Konoha into war and ultimately all they got was a useless corpse.

He was really beginning to hate that word – _n_eedlessly!

Doubts over their leadership began to surface within the village. How long was it going to be before they did something that assured the destruction of Kumo? All the Raikages belonged to the same lineage and all four of them had been more brawn than brain. It didn't seem like very long till they did something wrong.

Ai had never felt more humiliated in his whole life. What he did, he had done for the sake of his village and now instead of standing by his side, they were questioning his mettle as a leader?! They would dare threaten civil war against him, the fastest man alive?!

But he was stuck…if he killed the heads of the rebellion it would just validate their views. No…there had to be another way.

Ai had never been much for strategy or planning which was why he was glad of what an extended family he held. Since its founding Kumo held the practice of handing administrative and influential positions to only relatives of the Raikage. Since all four were of a common lineage, it meant that they assured some level of loyalty at least in the governing of the village.

He had exploited this mercilessly. All he had to do was use his position to shift the blame…

The poor unwitting Hachan clan. They weren't particularly popular, lacking any bloodlines or significant power but were only granted clan status due to their ability to navigate the oceans with incredible ease which had helped Kumo scour for important resources for generations.

A cleverly planned smear campaign against them suddenly had the entire village turn on them, threats of civil war forgotten. Playing the part of the noble and benevolent Raikage, he led his men to the slaughter.

It was a shame to lose their abilities but he had gained so much more.

It had inspired a powerful sense of loyalty in his men. His image had been transformed and it allowed him to begin building Kumo, strengthening its military as he had always intended.

But he was also careful _who _was allowed to become powerful. If they shared his blood then he could count on them to be loyal or else they were a risk.

His family was truly extensive. The Nii's, the Yotsuki's, the Arashi's and so many more. He assured that members of these families got the best of tutors and training. He personally helped them with Raiton ninjutsu making sure they were all incredibly powerful.

Doing so he had raised a powerful platoon of jonin. Larger than any other villages and each one of them far stronger.

And he had come to learn that clients also flocked to the strongest villages. The nobles and merchants of Kaminari no Kuni were some of the richest in the world, and they paid through their nose for missions. Kumo had amassed such incredible debt over the past decade allowing them to completely renovate the village and use it to further train each and every single one of his jonin army.

Even with all that…he knew that Kumo was missing something very important that granted Konoha the edge.

Despite being hailed as heroes and protectors, both his jinchuriki had been somewhat alienated from him and the village.

He just couldn't understand why!

His own brother had turned into an infuriating dolt who loved to annoy everybody with his awful raps. They argued about everything now. He remembered how close the two used to be, how Bee would obey his every command, share his beliefs and most importantly thought he was the greatest in the world.

Now they acted more like distant relatives at best.

The problem was that Bee was too strong and crafty to force him to do something against his will. And he wanted to explore the world. Bah! He couldn't be trusted to do missions anymore since he would just end up wandering and spend twice as long to complete hit. Now he spent most of his time on Turtle Island and hadn't been on a mission in five years.

Which was why he had to force all the missions Bee was supposed to take on his other jinchuriki. Nii Yugito, age eighteen, one of their best jonin and Nibi's jinchuriki. She was almost constantly outside the village. The only people she talked to were himself, only to report missions, and to Bee who was the closest thing she had to a father since her's passed.

On the surface, she was a proud and respected kunoichi who worked hard to serve her village. But the look he saw in her eyes sometimes…it reminded him so much of the past two Nibi jinchuriki. The question wasn't if she was going to snap and kill herself, it was whether it would be within one year or two.

Despite having such pride in his jonin force, Ai preferred to have them continue to train within a village as much as they could. He just didn't understand why she'd be so put off by getting a _few _extra missions.

The point was that both of them were far too independent and while they were loyal, it was only to an extent. He couldn't count on them to give their all in a war or an invasion. They'd have their own thoughts and feelings about it, more likely than not they wouldn't want to have any part in it.

He could try to force Yugito but Bee would protect her. He knew his brother was barely tolerating Yugito receiving so many missions.

He really did wish he was a smarter man, but he had to make do with what he had. He'd find a way to get them to see things his way.

One way or another.

* * *

_Well lucky for you, I'm rather well versed in seals. I'll send over a couple of things I wanted you to have._

_First, a little something to help out with your gourd problems. Modifying a simple storage seal you can carry half the desert in something no bigger than your palm._

_Second, a little something if you ever need any help in the future. I know you're Kazekage and all, but I guess we could all use someone covering our back. Set the larger seal in the location you want me to show up. Place the other one on your palm and it should embed on your skin. If you need me just pulse chakra through it and I'll be there. _

_Heck, I may just pop up and say hi a couple of times. I hope you're okay with that._

_\- Naruto, 10:32 pm_

* * *

**Well, that's a wrap. I hope you guys enjoyed. **

**Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. I've been working ahead a bit so I did kind off get caught up. Don't worry Naruto will visit Uzu and it's going to be quite interesting.**

**Peace out!**


	7. Chapter 7: It Begins

**Choices:**

**Hey guys I'm back with the seventh chapter. This is the beginning of the events of Shippuden, which mind you will start of a bit different from canon before it diverges. I just want you guys to keep a couple of things in mind before I proceed.**

**1\. Shinobi battles are fast and decisive. It's not a long drawn out slugfest, it's who's faster at slitting the other guys neck. A single wrong move can end a battle. Which is why even a great ninja can be made to look like a chump if he isn't careful.  
2\. Naruto is not boringly overpowered. Every fight is going to carry a lot of risk and the chance of him failing is pretty damn high. I'm going to try my best to avoid plot armor in any fights or conflicts  
3\. This is not a romance story so the focus is not going to be Naruto and X. They're going to be subplots happening alongside the main story. Like I said before, he's going to be having interactions and friendships with multiple female characters. Neither is he going to be stuck on one the entire story nor is he going to make a harem of every possible female.  
4\. Some of the arcs will be overarching so they will span several chapters even if it isn't the focus of most of the chapters.**

**Other than that enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: It Begins**

**Year 16, February 9****th****: **

**Unknown Cave:**

Eight holographs materialized in a circle surrounding a rock. Faint light illuminated it allowing them to see each other.

"You have something to report Kakuzu"

"Hai Leader-sama. We-"

"We found the Nibi bitch!" Hidan exploded in excitement, "I can't wait to bathe in her-"

"You'll do well to remember we need the jinchuriki alive Hidan" Pein warned in a steely tone causing the normally loud-mouthed Jashinist to shut his mouth.

Nobody dared cross Pein and for a good reason. The Akatsuki was composed of not only some of the most dangerous shinobi in the world, but the most volatile. Keeping them together was a task and a half, yet the Akatsuki functioned all thanks to the fear that their leader evoked. A man with unknown capabilities, chakra so powerful it felt inhuman and possession of the mythical eyes said to belong to the progenitor of ninjutsu? His claims of being a God sometimes didn't seem all that farfetched.

Despite Hidan thinking such claims were blasphemy, even he wasn't sure his immortality could hold up against him. Considering his intelligence paled in comparison to every other member, who had all been rather high-ranking shinobi within their village prior to their defection, it really wasn't surprising Pein kept the entire organization in line.

His purple ringed eyes turned his attention towards his partner, "Explain"

"We have remained to the East of Hi no Kuni as per your orders. Sasori's spies have confirmed that the Nibi jinchuriki takes on many missions and is almost constantly outside the village. We crossed paths with her and have been tailing her for two days. We are awaiting your orders"

"I see…what is the status of the other jinchuriki?"

The gruff voice belonging to Sasori spoke up, "All of them are accounted for except the Kyuubi jinchuriki. As predicted Jiraiya of the Sannin was last spotted in Kusa no Kuni meaning he's most probably investigating Iwa's mobilizations"

"It's doubtful that he would allow the boy to accompany him there" Konan pointed out, "Which means that he is most likely hiding on his own since there isn't anything to indicate he has returned to Konoha"

It was one of the rare times that something to do with Hidan hadn't ended up giving him a migraine. The Jashinist had no concept of subtlety and it was only Kakuzu's decades of experience and skill that had managed to keep them out of the radar of any major villages. With Onokhi mobilizing his forces, they had suspected Jiraiya would investigate around there. To play it safe he had decided that Hidan couldn't be anywhere near Iwa which had resulted in him ordering the two to remain on the East of Hi no Kuni.

"It may be earlier than anticipated but we cannot pass up such an opportunity. Deidara, Sasori; you both will drop whatever you were working on and coordinate with Itachi and Kisame to find the Kyuubi jinchuriki. Hidan, Kakuzu; the two of you are tasked with capturing the Nibi. Once you've captured your target you will assist the other four"

"Doing so will push back attempts at infiltrating Suna by several months" Sasori spoke, "My spies require a lot of…close contact". It was the truth, since the jutsu he used to control his agents required constant reinforcement. He had learned that the best way to lie to someone was to tell them only half the truth.

"The Ichibi jinchuriki is the Kazekage. We know exactly where he will be, he won't be going anywhere. Such a delay is acceptable" Pein retorted to which Sasori grunted.

"What of the extraction?" Kakuzu questioned.

"It will be done within Ame instead off as planned. You have your orders…and Kakuzu remember if Hidan kills the target it's on your head"

Both bit their tongues as they withdrew from the meeting.

"This meeting is adjourned. Continue with your duties"

"Hai"

As soon as Pein and Konan returned to their bodies, they sensed a familiar build up off chakra. The air almost ripped as a swirl materialized and from it a tall orange-masked man emerged.

"What is it Madara?" Konan asked sharply.

"Is that any way to talk to your _dear _associate?" Tobi asked tauntingly before his posture shifted betraying his seriousness, "You are being hasty Pein. The Gedo Mazo is not prepared to contain any of the bijuu, much less the Kyuubi"

"The bijuu are nothing but pawns in a much larger plan. Their uses stretch beyond chakra sources" Pein replied.

Konan shifted to stand by Deva path as she spoke, "We know our goals. We made no illusion off what we wish to use the bijuu for".

"Unless you've forgotten what keeps your real body alive. Do not sully our plans before they have begun from your childishness _Nagato_…" Tobi shot back threateningly.

"And you will do well to remember why I still lead this organization. We will tolerate your presence as long as you remain useful to us. If you have an issue with my leadership then you're welcome to try and usurp me"

Tobi didn't rise to his challenge, "Your foolishness will be your downfall _boy_. Fail and there will be severe consequences…" he warned before disappearing with the same swirl of air with which he appeared.

* * *

Konan quietly stared out of her room's window watching the endless rain descend upon Amegakure.

She _hated_ the rain.

It was a constant reminder of the days after her parents were killed during the Second War. Starving and freezing on the streets with no hope whatsoever. The skies were constantly overcast which always imparted a sense of doom to her.

It was at times like this that she missed Yahiko. No matter how overcast it was, he always made the day feel brighter. Like the elusive sun that hid behind the constant cover of clouds. She fell in love with Yahiko because he gave her hope – hope that things will get better, hope to fight for a better future for their country.

His death had changed everything. Instead of being a peaceful organization aiming for social revolution they were now a ruthless criminal syndicate aiming to capture the nine bijuu and hang them over the heads of every shinobi village as a threat. Nagato had become convinced that the nature of man was too chaotic, that they were far too driven by their fears and selfish desires and the only way to ever achieve peace was by having a single all-powerful figure that inspired fear and conformity.

He became convinced that peace required a god amongst men. That was what gave birth to Pein.

This went against everything Jiraiya had thought them. The Sannin believed that peace could be achieved through some sort of social contract. Where there was an unspoken understanding between people to help and support each other. That humans had it in them to do good and they required their leader's to encourage them to do so. It such an idealized notion of peace – one that Yahiko had bought into completely and it was the very same notion that had led to his downfall.

Jiraiya had abandoned them to their fate. His teachings were naïve and rooted in a world that was far too idealistic. She really did wish that it was the way forward, but a lifetime of lessons and suffering had shown her the cold, harsh reality that was their world.

Nagato may have snapped, he may have warped from a kind, caring boy into a deranged and delusional psychopath but he was still her friend. No matter how many questionable moves he made she just couldn't abandon him. Not when he was at his lowest and especially not when he was dying. She knew anybody else in her position would've tried to move on a long time ago. They would have left Nagato alone and they'd be justified considering his grip on reality was slowly declining.

But she just couldn't. No matter how badly she wanted to, she valued her friendship with Nagato far more than that. So, she'd continue this way. She'd continue to stand by his side no matter what hardships she would have to face. She regretted all the things she had never got to experience in life, but if it meant giving a chance to another person like her to never have to face what she did…

It was worth all the tears, sweat and blood she had shed.

* * *

**February 10****th****:**

**Yu no Kuni: **

Exhaustion was a near constant for Nii Yugito. She spent most of her time outside the village, taking on a series of missions each time she left. Sometimes she'd have a team along, but she mostly took them on solo. Since she made chunin six years ago she'd have a whole bunch of missions dumped on her, she'd finish them, get home long enough to recover and then she was out again. It really wasn't all that surprising she was in a sour mood most of the time.

This was only worsened by the fact that she was being tailed by two men whose cloaks matched the description of the organization called the Akatsuki. The red clouds were a dead giveaway before considering how loud the one called Hidan was. She hated how quickly Raikage brushed them off as irrelevant when it was her life on the line. Taking on so many missions didn't just come with physical exhaustion, her judgement tended to be skewed. If they were even a couple of A-ranked shinobi she was going to be in trouble in her current state, much less if they were S-rankers.

Panic, fear, anxiety…she felt them all the time, but it was so much more pronounced now. The uncertainty of what she could face and what could happen. She didn't like feeling this way, always preferring to stay cool and reserved, but she really couldn't help it…

Much to her fortune, she found a rather dense forest nearby, something that would be helpful slowing them down. She dashed forward but a voice in her head caused her to change her directions.

"**Go left and hide"**

She was used to having Matatabi speak to her from time to time. She didn't have the greatest relationship with the bijuu within her for obvious reasons, she was effectively her prison. But the understanding that Yugito was far too strong-willed to ever lose control and release her, had allowed them to reach an understanding. Apparently, dispersion was far more painful than being trapped for several decades.

She suppressed her chakra carefully as to not allow her pursuers to find her. She leaned slightly and watched from the corner of her left eye.

She blinked in surprise when she saw somebody using a Henge of her appearance and running in the opposite direction, the two men in mad pursuit after her.

Perfect.

Taking several minutes, she cleared any evidence of her presence in the area. Footprints, scent, chakra – it was as if she had never even been there. Now the only question was…

Who had led them away?

"**He's approaching you right now. Talk to him"**

'_He could be an enemy'_

"**I'm well aware child. But he could prove to be a valuable ally and he bears no ill intent that I can discern. Talk to him" **she ordered sternly.

Yugito suppressed a sigh and called out, "Whoever you are, show yourself"

"Don't attack" a male voice responded. She remained on guard as she watched a blonde-haired teenager about fifteen or sixteen step out from the tree line. His hands were raised to try and show he meant no harm. He was a couple of inches shorter than her, a slim build, wore a burnt orange and black jacket with matching burnt orange pants. Blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek. Long spiky hair touching the black cloth of his hitai-ate.

Konoha…

Kumo and Konoha had been on terrible terms since the Hyuuga affair. She knew she should have been incredibly cautious around him given he had effortlessly executed a Henge on a Shadow clone, sneaked up on her and Matatabi seemed to believe he was strong. Then there was that odd sensation of familiarity that she got from the moment she saw him.

It didn't take her long to put two and two together, "You're a jinchuriki aren't you?" she asked.

He slowly lowered his hands, "Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha. Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. And you are?"

Through her surprise, she spoke, "Nii Yugito of Kumo, jinchuriki of the Nibi…I always had a feeling that the Yondaime killing the Kyuubi was a lie…let's cut to the chase. What do you want from me?"

"Those two after you-"

"They're from the Akatsuki"

"They are. I don't know how much you know about them but they're dangerous. Both S-ranked with unknown abilities. I figured this would buy some time so we can at least talk and maybe come to a…understanding of sorts"

Yugito studied him carefully. The problem was he was being entirely sincere. She hadn't known him long enough to guess if he was choosing to do so or if he was simply that open. But as a ninja, attempts at sincerity were always red flags. How better to gain somebody's trust than to pretend to be sincere? For all she knew he planned to subdue her and get his village another bijuu. The admission of him being a jinchuriki would make sense since he might be using it to lull her into a false sense of security.

Yet…he just seemed so innocuous. It wasn't just his appearance; his posture and method of speaking didn't impart the slightest hint of caution. His posture was relaxed, his chakra gave off a calm and soothing aura. Everything about him just put her at ease which was incredible considering she was a shinobi from a rival village who was trying to exercise caution around him.

As if reading her mind, he spoke, "I know it may look like I'm going to try something with you, but I promise you I just want to talk"

She narrowed her eyes, "You realize that doesn't mean much to me…"

"How about we're both jinchuriki? We have something in common, something to understand each other by. I don't make promises lightly, it's something very important to me"

Again, with the complete honesty. It was really driving her up the wall.

"**Silly human" **Matatabi chuckled within her, **"Always doing the opposite of what you wish to do. You know there's ample evidence that you can trust him. Why hesitate?"**

'…_I have a duty to my village. I can't risk it'_

"**Rationalize all you want, but you know I'm right. Like I said he can prove to be a valuable ally" **she replied calmly, **"Don't forget that I've been alive for decades. I know enough about your kind to know when you're lying. Everything he's spoken so far is the truth"**

She sighed lightly, "I'll give you that…is there somewhere we can go to talk?"

"I have a safe house nearby if you're okay with following me there"

She nodded, "Very well, lead the way"

* * *

Furious didn't begin to describe what Kakuzu was feeling right now. He had been a shinobi for a very long time now, having lived almost three times as long as the average shinobi and he had spent decades of his career working as a bounty hunter under the radar of every hidden village. He also held the distinction of having faced the Shodai Hokage and living to tell the tale. He had pride in his abilities and he regarded himself as one of the strongest shinobi in the world, something that wasn't unfounded.

But his fury stemmed from the fact that somebody had made a fool of him. What he thought was the Nibi jinchuriki ended up being a shadow clone. He estimated they had been chasing the clone for at least four hours and in that time the clone expended a notable amount of chakra keeping away. He knew the Nibi jinchuriki had a lot of chakra but from his observations, he knew that she wouldn't be able to produce a clone to sustain that kind of chakra expenditure and a Henge at the same time. The logical deduction would be that the clone was produced by another jinchuriki, one with greater chakra reserves.

The Kyuubi jinchuriki was somewhat renowned for his use of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu but it was far more likely that it was the Hachibi jinchuriki intervening. This made Kakuzu a bit uneasy. A man wielding the entire power of a bijuu? It was true that the Akatsuki members all had their own ways to counteract a jinchuriki's ability to channel their bijuu's chakra, but he wouldn't delude himself into thinking anybody apart from the leader, Itachi or Kisame would be able to fight Kirabi. He hadn't survived all these decades by being incapable of gauging his potential enemies.

But Pein wasn't a tolerant man and his patience was already running thin with the two of them thanks to the blithering idiot that was his partner. He could always try and run, but the time and resources that would go into hiding from the Akatsuki wasn't something he was willing to expend. He'd have to give it to Orochimaru, not only did he have the stones to stab the Akatsuki in the back, but he had successfully evaded detection by them since his betrayal.

Before he had much time to think on what to do, he heard the faint but unmistakable sound of a tripwire reeling. His eyes snapped towards Hidan who had triggered a trap. His instincts took over as he leapt backwards and barely avoided a set of kunai covered in wind natured chakra rocketing downwards. The kunai embedded deep into the ground underneath setting off explosive tags buried underneath. The airborne Kakuzu was sent flying backwards into a mesh of ninja wire that quickly wrapped around him. He sent Doton chakra coursing through his skin hardening it to the same toughness as steel. Unfortunately, his preference for using this technique over Kawarimi worked against him since many of the wires were covered in lightning and wind type chakra enhancing their sharpness which let them cut through. Grunting he deactivated his Doton technique and used a Kawarimi to escape it. The Jiongu meant that his body didn't have blood or organs, replaced by living tendrils of hair. He was capable of feeling a little pain through his skin but the only way to harm him was through his five hearts, four of which were hidden behind porcelain masks that could only be broken by a targeted and focused A or S-ranked jutsu.

With a quick set of hand signs, he created several Mizu Bunshins to diffuse nearby traps. He was about to hide but a rustle among the trees next to him drew his attention. He was about to draw his Futon mask and attack, but he managed to catch a blur of motion coming towards him in his peripheral vision. Even though it was blurred, there was no mistaking the jutsu that was aimed at him. The blue sphere of chakra that the Yondaime Hokage had created.

The Kyuubi jinchuriki had ambushed him.

He raised his arms in defense channeling all the Doton natured chakra he could through them. He was almost thrown back from the force of impact alone, but he managed to dig his feet into the ground. His assailant seemed to be losing momentum but with a cry of determination, the sphere expanded and began to push him backward again. Kakuzu yelled defiantly and resisted it for several more seconds before he was sent skidding backward a few feet.

His ears rang from the grinding noise, his hand had gone numb from the pain and his focus was scattered trying to locate the Kyuubi jinchuriki. Hearing motion behind him he barely shifted his position as he felt a sharp pain in his chest that had just missed his original heart. The distinct smell of ozone told him he had been impaled by a Raiton flow technique.

He swung his arms behind him almost catching the person behind him. His focus slowly returning he watched as the Nibi jinchuriki darted up into the trees. He narrowed his eyes dangerously realizing that the two jinchuriki had teamed up to take him down. The thick scent of blood and string of profanity confirmed Hidan had indeed been incapacitated by the traps.

With a low growl, he ripped the kunai out of his chest. He had two brats to capture.

* * *

Crouched within one of the trees Naruto watched as the mysterious man casually ripped the kunai out of his chest. Not even a drop of blood…to add to that he had taken the full brunt of an Oodama Rasengan and all he had to show was a bit of bruised skin. That and the fact that he had five distinct chakra signatures – five!

Yugito slid in next to him and leaned close to his ear, "He's not human...his body is made of these hairy tendrils and he has no blood" she whispered, "What about the other one?"

"He survived with his head chopped off, so I sealed him in a scroll. We'll need a plan to deal with this guy, kunai and wires aren't going to cut it. He has five chakra signatures which are probably connected to the threads in his body"

"Then let's put some offensive pressure. Attack at range with ninjutsu and regroup"

Naruto nodded, "Stay back for now. Wait for the oil and wind".

It was a straightforward deduction, her bijuu was covered in flames which meant that she either her primary affinity was Katon or she had a very strong one for it. She was more than likely to have several powerful Katon jutsu in her arsenal, which was complemented by his Futon affinity and his ability to use the Toad oil.

He bounded forward as she bounded away, preparing himself to unleash a storm of attacks. Naruto's style of combat was centered around him being the aggressor. This was by far the rarest tactic employed in the shinobi world since for most people, the risk exponentially outweighed any benefits. But there were two reasons why Naruto could use such a tactic.

One, his durability was one of his strongest traits. His focus and willpower gave him a rather high pain threshold and his body was gifted with the natural Uzumaki sturdiness which had been enhanced quite a bit by the Kyuubi. Despite his appearance, Naruto was capable of enduring the most brutal of attacks, just look at what he had been on the receiving end off when he was twelve. The Jyuuken and Chidori would definitely stand out given both techniques were capable of causing instant death.

The second reason stemmed from what his training over the last two years had been focused on. His biggest advantages were his massive chakra reserves and his mastery of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He hadn't learned a whole lot of techniques, but what he did have were incredibly refined ones that were capable of dealing out a massive amount of damage, the type of jutsu that typically were used minimally due to their chakra requirements. Are you seeing the brilliance? Five Futon ninjutsu, two Raiton ninjutsu and seven others he had picked up on Myobokuzan on ones he already knew – that was all Naruto needed to resemble a bullet hell final boss from a video game. He rained down his assault without worry of collateral damage to either his comrades or innocent bystanders and Yugito had retreated a fair distance. The ground and trees were torn apart from the hail of attacks.

Even with the excellent coordination and constant adjustments of the attacks, Kakuzu showed that he was every bit the S-ranker that he was known and feared to be. He weaved and ducked through the attacks receiving only glancing blows. With the Jiongu the only real way he could be harmed or killed was through his five hearts which wouldn't happen if he didn't receive a direct hit. But the constant stream of attacks meant that he had very little room to execute a counterattack since it always came with the risk of taking a direct hit which could damage one or two of his hearts.

It was here that Kakuzu made a major tactical error that cost him the battle. He brushed off the two jinchuriki due to both being teenagers and moved to end the battle as soon as possible. He hadn't stopped to consider that was expending a lot of chakra and even with his monstrous reserves he couldn't keep up an attack like this for very long. If he had been patient, he would have weakened Naruto significantly which would have made the battle a whole lot easier. Instead he made his play earlier, allowing Naruto to conserve a good portion of his chakra that he otherwise would have expended.

His play had been to use Doton: Doryuheki. While Doton jutsu were weak against Raiton jutsu, it bought a couple of milliseconds, enough for him to execute a Shunshin and escape the line of attack. Instead he found himself alarmed when a shadow loomed over him. Turning upwards he watched as a massive wave of oil descended on him quickly, no doubt being pushed down by a Futon jutsu. He heard the other jinchuriki calling out her jutsu, "Katon: Nekomata Endan!" – and he knew he was screwed. Blue flames shot forward and roared to life when they met the oil and wind.

Hastily he summoned his Katon and Futon masks, using his own collaboration technique to shield him but it wasn't too much help. It bought him enough time to dodge the attack before it did too much damage to him. He lost a good portion of his tendrils which while replaceable cost a good chunk of chakra to regenerate.

Despite being a foul-tempered individual, Kakuzu always approached combat very calmly and rationally. But these two brats were really pushing that approach to its limits. His pride reared its ugly head when he found himself cornered by a duo who he considered blips to his own power. He wanted more than to beat them, he wanted humiliation and suffering.

And this only made him dig his grave deeper.

"Can't find him…" Naruto muttered, "I saw him pull out masks from his body, they seem to be the source of the signatures"

"So, we target the masks" she nodded.

"Better watch out, he might be able to use all five nature transformations"

This really was something to be wary off. Learning how to use successive nature transformations after your first one which usually was your affinity tended to be exponentially harder. Most jonin could manage just two even with years of training, three was exceptional. Five on the other hand? Only the Sandaime Hokage was known to have mastered all five nature transformations.

Their conversation was halted when the black tendrils they had seen earlier shot out from several different directions. They weren't just fast, but they were very strong and difficult to cut. Naruto used a Futon chakra covered kunai, while Yugito extended claws from her fingertips and hacked away. But the tendrils were being replaced faster than they could cut it, ensnaring them and making it hard to move. They tried their best to get away, but it was getting increasingly hard.

A disembodied voice spoke around them, "I was going to just knock you out but now that you two brats have pissed me off…I'm going to enjoy watching you squirm"

"I hate! That! Damn! Technique!" Naruto ground out each time he cut a bunch of tendrils. It gave him flashbacks of his fight against Zabuza and Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, both events that had given him nightmares as a genin.

"He's going to attack soon! Be on guard!" Yugito responded trying to focus on cutting through. It was only sheer focus and determination that was keeping her from keeling over from exhaustion. She was slowly approaching her limits and if she planned on surviving then they'd have to end the battle quickly.

Naruto tripped over one and fell forward. "You're mine!" a loud voice boomed as Kakuzu rocketed forward from the bushes below and slammed a hardened hand into his chest immediately sending a sickening crack. He was thrown back through several trees. Yugito barely managed to fling a smoke bomb down and flared her signature blue flames around her burning the tendrils. From the sound alone she knew her fellow blonde broke at least a few ribs if his lung hadn't been punctured.

She found him sticking upside down to a branch holding his chest and wheezing. She grabbed him by the waist and darted away to give them some room. As they moved, she felt a lot of heat build-up around his chest, a faint sizzling sound and a very thin veil of steam. His breathing evened out almost immediately showing he had healed them as though it was nothing.

She placed him on the branch next to him, "You alright?"

"I'm fine, I heal-duck!" Naruto yelled as a bolt of electricity flew over them.

"Raiton: Jibashi!" Kakuzu roared as he unleashed a torrent of electricity to try and fry them.

Getting on their feet they scampered away from the man until they found a clearing nearby. They heard Kakuzu's voice around taunting them. Their backs pressed against each other as they waited for the attack to come. When the tendrils shot out, several of Naruto's clones appeared helping them keep them at bay but they weren't lasting long since the tendrils kept choking them to death.

Naruto violently sliced through the tendrils holding his wrists, "Incoming twelve and two!" he managed out in between.

Her training paid dividends when she didn't pause in shock over the two monstrous-looking creatures made of the same tendrils. The white masks that Naruto had described formed the head of these creatures standing out against their black bodies.

"Move!" she yelled as they both shifted out of the way of a blast of water and wind. The two creatures immediately shot towards her attacking with the same blasts of water and wind making her time dodging the tendrils even harder than it was.

Naruto tried to run over to her to help but Kakuzu pounced on him and engaged him in close combat while using his Katon and Raiton masks to put a lot of pressure on him.

"You messed with the wrong person kid. Too bad you're not going to live long enough to learn from it"

"Yeah first time I've heard that" Naruto shot back sarcastically, "Big talk from the guy who fell into an ambush from a genin"

This got under Kakuzu's skin as he proceeded to attack thrice as aggressively giving Naruto an even harder time. But it did allow him to dodge freely without worrying about surprise attacks or counters giving him time to try and formulate a plan.

He wasn't going to beat him in taijutsu. The guy hit way too hard and a couple of hits would put him out of commission even with his healing. He wasn't too keen on trading ninjutsu since not only did his masks counter his two most viable nature transformations but he didn't want to needlessly expend chakra if he needed it later to deliver a killing blow. But if he engaged him at close range too long he ran the risk on making a mistake and getting taken down.

Why, oh why did every battle of his have to be so difficult? Couldn't he ever get a strong enemy that he could just roll over?

Knowing he couldn't do this alone he was going to have to get Yugito out of her stalemate. Apart from the exhaustion she was facing from her missions, the Suiton mas was countering every attempt to call up her blue flames. Katon jutsu required the greatest amount of time to charge and was the second worse element defensively. He'd give her about a minute before she was captured which he couldn't allow. If he caught her, he'd have leverage over him. Sometimes he wished he could be a cold-hearted bastard and get rid of his damn hero complex but there was nothing he could do to change it. What he had to focus on was eliminating the Suiton mask – a move that would shift momentum in their favor.

He had a plan and another thing he wished for was the ability not to rely on ballsy and frankly insane plans like this but again it was all he had. He was putting everything on the line in this one move, if he failed, they were both going to die a very painful and slow death which was going to happen anyway with the way things were going.

Kakuzu knew he had the advantage. He wasn't showing it but the boy was feeling the after-effects of his initial attack. When a person expended large amounts of chakra quickly it placed a strain on their coils and body producing one of the most painful sensations known to ninja. It was a miracle he was still fighting considering he'd already taken a huge hit.

When he leaped back Kakuzu felt the familiar thrill that rose whenever he believed the battle was over. He was perfectly poised to launch ninjutsu at him and the room to dodge or counter was practically non-existent. All was set to take down this miserable brat…

But he couldn't help but stall for a second when he felt a shiver pass down his spine. The Kyuubi's chakra wasn't just powerful but it gave off a presence that no human could ever hope to match. Even a shinobi as hardened as him couldn't help but equate the sensation to pure evil.

The second was all Naruto needed to summon two enormous Rasengans in both his hands. Kakuzu prepared to defend himself but the attack never came. Instead his senses just vanished – his sight cloaked in white, his ears ringing and his smell registering just earth and smoke. He stumbled lightly with the only thing keeping him grounded was sensing the Kyuubi's chakra. Both he and Yugito sensed a massive spike of Naruto's chakra but upon it vanishing completely and so quickly they both panicked.

"**Above" **a gruff unfamiliar voice spoke in Yugito's head. Despite being completely terrified of the unknown voice she managed to locate her fellow jinchuriki hovering in the air above her before he began to shoot downwards. Realizing his plan she channeled all the chakra she could muster preparing to release her strongest Katon jutsu.

Just as the Suiton mask was about to launch another counter, a blue of orange smashed into it and towards the disoriented Kakuzu below who unfortunately managed to leap away in time. Yugito timed her jump perfectly and released her jutsu to destroy the Futon mask and to propel her much like she'd seen Naruto do. She was shortly buffeted by the wind and dust that followed, but when she laid eyes on the size of the crater…

It had to be at least eighty meters in diameter and about three meters deep. She couldn't see him probably meaning he had buried himself in a ton of rubble. The kind of destructive force required to achieve that was off the charts. She'd gotten a pretty good idea of his capabilities…or so she thought since her estimates were far off. He had undoubtedly activated some sort of technique while in the air. He had hovered up there using the wind for a few seconds to activate the technique before using the height to accelerate his fall and bolster his attack. Maybe it had something to do with the Kyuubi? There was really no way to tell unless she asked him, or she saw him use it several times more.

Just as she landed, she felt the ground begin to rumble. She watched as spikes of earth as tall as her began to shoot out rapidly in her direction. She just managed to jump but a spike caught her thigh. She was about to fall back but she felt the collar of her shirt being grabbed as a figure zoomed past her so fast that all she felt was the breeze that followed him. Groaning she sliced through the spike with her claws leaving a large chunk stuck inside. She watched Naruto's clone dispel as soon as it placed her on top of the branch.

Turning around despite the pain she watched as Naruto effortlessly destroyed one of his masks with…a missed punch? This technique was seeming more and more broken by the minute. She may not have been as fast as Naruto was right now, but she had always been light on her feet. As had been the case throughout the fight, he read her intentions perfectly. After a dominant show of taijutsu and strength, he destroyed the Futon mask with a gust of wind so strong it ripped away trees for hundreds of meters. As soon as the jutsu died down she darted behind him and prepared to strike his final heart down.

Naruto shot forward quicker than she could even react and grabbed the man in place. She watched as he struggled to get out of his grips, smashing his so hard that the ground shook but it didn't even look like it fazed him. With a deep breath, she shot forward and buried a Raiton covered kunai through his heart.

"No…" he wheezed out before he fell to the ground in a heap. She looked up at Naruto and couldn't help but blink at what she saw. Orange pigmentation around his eyes, golden irises with a black rectangular pupil.

'_A doujutsu?' _she thought.

"**No…it's an incredible power he has at his disposal. I shall tell you more about it later" **Matatabi spoke within her mind.

"To think…that two brats like you ended me…I even survived against the Shodai Hokage" he grunted out breathlessly.

Naruto crouched down and gave the man a hard look, "I hope the rest of the Akatsuki think this way. If you'd have been a bit more serious and treated us like ninja instead of kids…there was a very good chance our bijuu's would have been sucked out…it'll make dealing with you bastards that much easier for me"

He gave a weak chuckle, "You're an interesting kid…there are four others looking for you now…you better not lose to them when you beat them…" he grunted.

Naruto looked up to Yugito who nodded. Both raised a kunai and brought it down before the checked for the other masks not taking any risks. Two minutes later they had both come to the same conclusion.

Kakuzu had been eliminated.

* * *

With her arm slung around Naruto's shoulder, Yugito limped into the safe house. The spike had gone all the down to the bone. It pained like a real bitch with the adrenaline having faded but she did her best not to show it.

Naruto by now looked like he had just gone through an intense training session. His wounds steamed and disappeared leaving no evidence that they had ever existed. Heck he'd healed from broken ribs and a punctured lung within the span of a battle. As a jinchuriki she had accelerated healing as well, but nothing close to what he had shown to be capable of.

She unclipped her cuirass and flung it away as Naruto did the same for his orange jacket revealing a mesh wire top, "Better fix that wound. It looks pretty bad"

She clenched her fist lightly as he placed her on the bed, "It's not that bad. You'll need to take the piece out and close the wound".

"The thing is touching your bone and you can't stop clenching" he deadpanned before flipping through several hand-signs, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu".

With a cloud of smoke, a purple toad about the size of a large dog appeared, "Hello Naruto-san. How may I help you?"

"Hey Tori-san, my friend here is injured. Could you help her out?"

She nodded, "Of course. Please show me the wound"

Lowering her pants, she watched what she thought was a frog skillfully remove the chunk. She kept her face straight only twitching occasionally from the pain. The familiar warmth from the Shosen no Jutsu helped her relax a little as she watched the wound quickly close up. She tensed up when she pricked her but relaxed when she immediately felt the pain begin to numb up.

"You should feel some soreness for a couple of days. Please take it easy" she told her politely.

Yugito couldn't help but smile in return, "Thank you"

Naruto nodded, "Thanks a ton Tori-san. Could you please deliver this scroll to sensei?"

"Of course, Naruto-san. Please call me anytime you need help" she replied before reverse-summoning.

"Nice frog…" Yugito muttered breaking the silence.

"Toad" Naruto corrected, "They get pretty offended if you mix them up"

"I see…" she looked down at her exposed thigh, "This is going to leave a scar"

"You don't seem to mind too much"

She pulled up her undershirt slightly showing a round scar next to her belly button about the size of a coin, "Got this when I got stabbed with a spear two years ago. It was goodbye bikinis after that" she said sarcastically.

Naruto chuckled dryly, "I don't get scars for the most part but…" he pulled his shirt up towards his chest. A light star-shaped mark about the size of a fist was over his right lung. If not for the size, it would have easily been mistakable for a birthmark, "It never healed completely. It's almost like…a reminder for me"

"A reminder of what?"

What had transpired following Sasuke's betrayal was a very touchy issue for him. Despite having moved on from him, his betrayal stung him even today. He really did wish that Sasuke was a better person because god knew how many times he wished he had him as a friend and teammate. He didn't like to dwell on it too much because it reminded him of how different he was before that. It had become such a defining moment in his life now.

The only question was – did he want to share it with Yugito?

Despite her being a practical stranger and from a rival village, he had this strange feeling around her. It was hard to articulate in words, but it was a sense of understanding and comfort of knowing that there was somebody who could relate to what he was going through. The only other person he'd ever felt this way with was Gaara, another jinchuriki. Maybe…maybe the resonance they shared with the bijuu within them extended to other containers.

It made sense considering he was able to read her thoughts and emotions near perfectly, and she had done the same as well during the battle. And everything about her was telling him that he could trust her, that she was somebody he'd want to have as a friend.

He pursed his lips "I was dealt a shitty hand by life. I can't change the fact, but I have the right to acknowledge it. But everybody around me had become far too content forgetting that. They'd act like I was using it as an excuse when I never even brought it up. This scar reminds me of the fact that if people try to diminish or dismiss the difficulties I had to face, then they have no right to begrudge me for my shortcomings"

"I know what you mean…they like to peg all our shortcomings on us. We're too weak mentally, we don't try hard enough, we're disobedient. What about their faults?" she replied her voice low in anger, "They treat us like crap but expect us to be loyal to them. If we snap, they forget they pushed us to it. We're nothing but disposable tools"

"It was a bit naïve of me, but I really hoped that somewhere there is a jinchuriki who's isn't miserable" Naruto admitted, "Just hoping that one-day things will get better"

"That just feels like a pipedream"

"I know, but sometimes you just need a little hope…"

She agreed with him entirely. When she was younger and still naïve, she used to feel hope. Hope that things would eventually get better and it just seemed to make everything feel that much less dreary. But as the years went by she felt herself becoming increasingly cynical. She used to think that the world was fair and just, that there was some sense of balance. But she just couldn't believe in it anymore. It was just so hard to believe in something you knew for a fact that wasn't achievable.

But Naruto acknowledged the same fact yet he was still able to hold on to it. He wasn't delusional or in denial, he just wanted to continue believing in it. Most people would accuse him of being a masochist, for opening himself up to disappointment and hurt. But she saw it differently…he had the strength of character not to give up on who he was and what he believed in. No matter what the situation he'd continue fighting on even if he knew he was going down.

Just the way he fought proved that. He was willing to take risks in a bad situation instead of giving in or getting desperate like most people would have done if they were pinned like they were by Kakuzu. He fought on even in the face of their probable death. Shinobi battles were short and decisive, a single small mistake made all the difference which was what made such a thing even more incredibly.

Honestly, he was…very impressive.

As a person, as a ninja and he was good looking to boot. It was easy to talk to him and she felt a sort of ease that she had only ever felt with Kirabi. And she knew for a fact he felt the same way. While fighting he was as straight-faced and impassive as any shinobi but when they were alone, she could almost read him like a book. The fact that he chose to let his emotions show told her that he already trusted her somewhat, which was something she found really endearing.

But what really amused her was him checking out her legs ever so often. It'd take a blind man to miss the fact that they were both attracted to each other. Neither was a stranger to hooking since it was actually rather common among shinobi.

It was a vice much like alcohol or gambling. With the constant dangers and uncertainty of when you'll meet your end, a lot of shinobi used to help cope with the stresses of their line. Most engaged in casual relationships until they moved on in most cases or took it to the next step in a very few.

"Are you into the whole…roses and chocolates deal?" Naruto asked.

She raised an eyebrow, "I pegged you as the type of guy into that…apparently not"

"I don't know…maybe I am but I'm not looking for a relationship. There's just so much happening right now and I…I'm just not looking for one…not right now…"

She couldn't help but grin, "I think I know what you are looking for right now" with that she leaned forward and pulled him into a searing kiss. She felt a hint of satisfaction when he kissed back knowing exactly where this was leading.

And neither noticed, deep within the conscious, the conversation that was going on.

* * *

**Otogakure:**

Kabuto hated to admit it but he was a follower not a leader. No matter how highly he thought of himself, he knew he wasn't the kind of person to take the initiative, the kind to pull others in his cause. He was a damned good subordinate but he doubted he'd ever be able to lead people as his master did.

Orochimaru was everything that Kabuto wished he could be. Gifted not only with incredibly intellect and foresight – his charisma and ability to read people allowed him to draw in all sorts of people towards his cause. Most of them remained loyal out of fear or because Orochimaru twisted them into fanatics.

But what pricked him even more was that his grasp of science and medicine surpassed his own. It wasn't just from knowledge gained through the decades of age he had over him, no his intuition and conceptualization were unrivalled. The manner in which he approached a problem and the perspectives he derived from it…they just couldn't be replicated, learned or stolen. Above all that was the one trait Kabuto wished he possessed.

He carefully pulled out a test tube with a pale yellow fluid and poured it into an airtight container, within it contained a pure culture of bacteria that Orochimaru had engineered and studied for years. Kabuto wasn't sure what the culture was capable of, but he knew to be incredibly cautious.

"The isolation is complete my lord"

"Excellent. After five years, we finally have our hands on a pure sample"

"If I may ask…what exactly is this culture made of?"

He turned towards him and regarded him curiously, "This species mutated overtime to produce a unique exotoxin that promotes the production of certain steroidal hormones in humans. But a truly fascinating trait of this culture is the ability to rapidly replicate in drinking water"

"I see…you wish to use it as a vector to deliver other potential toxins or chemicals"

To this the man chuckled, "If I had wanted that then I would have engineered it to do so. No…there are far superior ways to deliver poisons. But there are very few ways to mimic a steroidal induced rage"

Despite not understanding what the Sannin's plan was, Kabuto was never one to disobey orders directly, "Shall I infect Konoha-"

"No" he stopped him, "Tsunade would see through it in a minute and it'll close an avenue to poison Konoha in the future. You're going to be doing this to Iwa instead. If you remember, they store all their transported water in a single location. Drop the culture in and the effects will be visible in the span of a few months…leave immediately and then check the bases in Shimo no Kuni"

"As you wish Orochimaru-sama" he bowed before departing.

It was a few hours later that Kabuto realized exactly what Orochimaru was planning. Iwa had been playing aggressively as of late and had been dealing with the Akatsuki. The plan was intended to influence the behavior of Iwa's shinobi and make them more aggressive. Doing so would likely accelerate the start of the war by a significant portion.

Orochimaru stood so much to gain from a potential war. It would throw up a massive smokescreen for him allowing him to move around relatively freely since the villages would be more concerned with each other. The number of potential test subjects and bases he could open during this time was staggering. Better still it would weaken Konoha temporarily. If he decided to finally exact his revenge, it would be that much easier if the village was drained from their efforts in a world war. And if he didn't the chances of them trying to retrieve Sasuke would go far, far lower. And these were only the most immediate ones he could think of.

This was exactly what he meant about Orochimaru. The vision he possessed was frightening even more so considering his understanding of psychology despite his disdain for humanity. He understood what people wanted and how to use that desire to manipulate events in his favor. Now imagine said man with the Sharingan and immortality?

He could bring the entire world under the banner of Oto.

* * *

**And that's a wrap!**

**I always liked the concept of Naruto having casual relationships or just plain friendships with a bunch of girls but there is no expectation to commit. They hang out for the most part and either they've hooked up once or they do so on occasion. For example, Naruto hangs out with Ino, Sakura, Hinata and Temari, he's friends with all four of them. Maybe he's FWB with Ino, slept with Temari one time when he visited Suna while he's platonic with Hinata and Sakura. He doesn't have to date all of them just for them to be in the story. Nor does just hanging out with them mean that most of them are in a harem. Dear god, it's like people who write these have never been in an actual relationship…though it would explain the 90% of fics being trash, power-wanking ones.**

**There's a bit of suspense over how the Akatsuki will respond. Having Itachi, Kisame, Deidara and Sasori after you sounds like a practical death sentence. It's going to be interesting to see how Naruto and Yugito get past them…or will they?**

**You'll find out soon.**

**Peace!**


	8. Chapter 8: The Devil's Luck

**Choices:**

**I'm back with the eighth chapter been a pretty long hiatus. Real life with the pandemic and all. Hope everyone is safe and healthy. Couple of things I want to clarify before this chapter.**

**Also...fuck Doc manager! It keeps deleting words and changing letters which is why my grammar seems pretty bad. I have decent grammar, honest!**

**First this is an adventure/drama fic. Romance and pairings are always going to be subplots to the main narrative, they serve to help character development and showcase the dynamic between characters, but they aren't the driving force of the plot. For this very reason there will be no smut in this fic, just references.  
On that topic, this is NOT a NaruHina fic. It's canon and been done THOUSANDS of times in fandom, plus if I'm being honest, I'm not the biggest fan of that pairing. A pairing works when there's solid development and actual interaction between the character. Each time they talk, they learn something new or see them in a new way. Naruto and Hinata just love each other off the bat in pretty much every fic I've read with the pairing, which is why I avoid it like the plague.**

**Yugito isn't going anywhere. She's going to be sticking around for a while and she will be back later as well. Not only is she roughly the same age as Naruto in this fic but she's a jinchuriki which opens up interesting avenues of interaction. I've always loved her character design and the fact that she has zero development in canon makes her a really interesting character to write. And I can assure you Nibi won't be a sex obsessed cinnamon roll but an actual bijuu.**

**Then there was the Sharingan nerf which few people were upset about. I nerfed it because it is in my opinion the most broken ability in any anime I've ever seen. The entire idea behind the bijuu is that they are forces with power that can't be matched by humans. The Mokuton can't control the bijuu but it can only restrain them. A human can't take a tiger in a hand-to-hand fight, but they can trap it in a cage, that's how I'm trying to portray Mokuton. It's still going to be powerful trust me, but it will be limited by the skill and creativity of the user. **

**Enjoy**

**Chapter 8: The Devil's Luck:**

**Feb 11th:**

**Ta no Kuni:**

If there were any two things that Kabuto was good at, it was hiding and escaping. To the average person it would be perceived as cowardly, but seasoned shinobi understood the value of doing so because it ensured survival. Strength meant nothing if one couldn't pull out when they were in over their head. The best shinobi were not necessarily always the ones with the most raw power, but they were always the ones that survived at the end of the day.

Kabuto had a lot of pride in his abilities but he had to acknowledge that he had a very slim chance of slipping away today. In a spur of the moment decision, he had decided to visit Shimo no Kuni before heading off for his mission and as a result he had ended up running into none other than the infamous duo of Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. Absolute monsters - individually both were more powerful than even Orochimaru.

Kisame was a gargantuan shinobi with superhuman levels of stamina, strength and durability. With Samehada, not only could he replenish his already massive chakra stores but effectively cripple enemies without so much as a scratch. Not that most could get out of the way of his swings given he was probably the best swordsman in the world at the moment.

And to think that Kisame wasn't the biggest problem. Despite his rather average stature, Uchiha Itachi was a veritable boogeyman. It had baffled him for a long time the ability of a man who was just a couple years younger than him to be able to strike such fear even in the most seasoned of shinobi.

Was it the Sharingan? No – Sasuke possessed one with more latent potential and despite having progressed at an astounding rate in the past couple of years, he was miles away from his older brother who had become an ANBU captain the same age Sasuke had become a genin.

But stopping to think about it now…it was definitely his prowess with genjutsu. Specialists in the field were rare given how difficult it was to master even the rudimentary illusions but even more so given the amount of creativity and skill needed. The most effective illusions were ones that caused suspension of disbelief. If an experienced ninja saw a monstrous creature approaching them, they were going to know it was a genjutsu within seconds. You had to know how to play on the fears and emotions of the enemy to get them to abandon reason, and once they did they could prick deep into a person's psyche and unravel their deepest, darkest secrets. And each user had their own way to cast an illusion which made it challenging to even identify when they were caught in one. His reputation added to that sense of terror Itachi created – an almost crippling fear snaked through his heart and completely destroyed any confidence he had.

How fitting that a genjutsu specialist could instill such a profound sense of doubt before the battle had even begun. The fear of being cast in an illusion was probably what made people especially vulnerable to being caught by one…despite knowing this he just couldn't shake the feeling.

So, he was going to have to stay hidden. There was a negligible chance that they'd miss his presence which was why he had to hope they'd decide dealing with him wasn't worth their time. If there was a confrontation, he'd have to play meek and innocuous to present himself as weak to try and play off their pride. Shinobi of their caliber often considered engaging in easy battles beneath them. He carefully suppressed his chakra, allowed his muscles to relax and slowed his breathing and heart rate to the point that it was barely enough to keep him alive.

Now all that remained to be seen was-

"Come out Yakushi Kabuto. We know you're here" Itachi spoke out in a commanding tone.

His heart skipped a beat, but he reigned in his fear. He had to present himself as being scared but not allow it to affect him – that was the most important thing, so they'd take him for a meek and incapable coward while waiting for an opening. With a deep breath he channeled chakra into his adrenal glands to release a massive amount of adrenaline. He tensed his muscles, allowing his heart rate and breathing to become noticeably elevated. Plan A it was for now, but plan B was to switch to his smug and sharp comments to try and piss off Kisame. If he did something rash, it would give him a window. He wasn't going to bother trying anything with Itachi considering if tales of his unflappable temperament even in the face of daunting odds were even remotely true it was a waste of time. Afterall this was the man who had humiliated his master when he was barely a teenager…

Thankfully having Sasuke under Orochimaru allowed him to study much about the Sharingan and he had managed to develop a special lead-based smoke pellet that would blind them. This was going to be one hell of a challenge so he absolutely couldn't afford any mistakes.

As he stepped out from his hiding spot, he made sure to stare at their feet since A – it helped with creating an image of meekness and B – it was best not to get entangled in a genjutsu, but something very odd happened. From the top of his peripheral vision he could see a faint but ominous red glow.

The Sharingan…

He had always wondered why opponents would look an Uchiha in the eyes despite knowing they required eye contact for their most powerful genjutsu. He clearly remembered all this times he had mocked people who would do that, yet he found his head moving up against his will. By the time he realized that Itachi had placed a subtle genjutsu to compel him to look up, their eyes met. Kabuto was met with a black tri-bladed shuriken over a red background that engulfed his mind before everything went black with only the word Tsukuyomi echoing in the recesses of his mind.

Kisame groaned as he watched Orochimaru's right hand crumple to the ground. He turned to his partner who was holding his left eye with his breathing slightly labored, "You really are no fun Itachi-san. You always use genjutsu to make them look you in the eyes"

He supported himself against a nearby tree before finding his balance, "There's no sense in drawing out a fight we don't have to"

"You could have let him run a bit. I love to see the hope in their eyes vanish…"

"A pointless waste of time and energy. A ninja strikes quickly and decisively. Perhaps if you took time to understand that you'd lash out less when enemies hurt you"

"Fair enough…but it doesn't hurt to have fun once in a while. I can't remember the last time I've fought to the death. Life isn't worth living without challenges, don't you agree?"

"Perhaps…" Itachi replied silently as he walked towards Kabuto and began to search him. Using a kunai, he cut his clothes up a bit, gave him several cuts and bruises and rubbed a little dirt at over to make it seem like he had managed to slip away in a stiff chase. While doing so, he had managed to quietly slip a small vial he found into his sleeve and replace it with a few shards of broken glass he fortunately had with him.

The Tsukuyomi was far more versatile than people realized. The illusion compressed numerous hours in the span of several seconds which put an incredible strain on the victim's subconscious. Unlike most other illusions that could influence one or more senses but never all - Tsukuyomi fooled the subconscious mind into thinking the illusion was reality since it could manipulate more abstract senses such as the sense of time, space and temperature – typically what could be used differentiate reality from even the most powerful illusions, was near impossible when caught in the Tsukuyomi. Most importantly though, the compression of many hours into a matter of a few seconds could be used to implant conditioning and suggestions in his victim's minds.

For instance, if he had wanted to make Kakashi deathly afraid of rabbits it could have easily been done. Every time he stabbed him, he would subtly show a rabbit to him thus forging the association between being stabbed and a rabbit. As much as humans liked to think of themselves above animals, they couldn't escape their base instincts, and this could be used to condition and manipulate them.

Running into Kabuto had been incredibly fortunate. He could check to see how his younger brother was doing and manipulate the spy into helping make sure Sasuke would get away from Orochimaru to reach their final confrontation that he had envisioned. Nothing too obvious, just letting slip small pieces of information when he used his usual taunts. He was a remarkably smug individual which would make it perfectly in character for him to do so. It didn't seem like much but battles at the highest levels often came down to the smallest details. He'd won so many battles just knowing the variation in the angle of an enemy's weapon swings was off by tenths off a degree. Most would brush it off as insignificant but if you had the right tools you could take something so trivial and turn it into an overwhelming advantage. More so when you had a bloodline that gifted you with unmatchable attention to detail.

Provided he struck at the right time, Sasuke could kill Orochimaru if he was weakened enough prior to transferring his soul. Any information he got was in his favor and he was going to raise his chances as much as he could.

He was broken from his musings when he heard his partner speaking, "We have standing orders to investigate anything involving Orochimaru…"

"Pursuing Orochimaru will take time. The Leader will be deploying us to Yu no Kuni shortly"

Before Kisame could respond, a large plant-like dome rose from the ground in front of them opening to reveal the two halves of Zetsu, "Kakuzu and Hidan have been neutralized" the white half spoke.

"Where is the Nibi jinchuriki now?" Kisame asked.

The black half growled, **"We returned to Ame no Kuni to inform the leader. By the time we returned, there was no trace of any of them. We kept a close watch right outside Kumo and there was no sign of her. She's most likely travelling by sea and she had help no doubt"**

"Have Sasori and Deidara do it. They've got enough passes on missions thanks to that blond idiot"

**"They are trapped in Kaze no Kuni due to a severe sandstorm. It'll take at least two days for them to get out of the desert"**

"Fine…we'll find her. Let the leader know" Kisame reluctantly agreed.

He stared at Kabuto, **"If you have no use for him, allow me-"**

"No. I need him alive, as does Sasori" Itachi cut him off, "Keep an eye on him, he's headed towards Iwa right now"

He grunted in response, **"Very well"**

The white half glanced to the other, "Hey, do you think we'll get to-"

**"Shut up"**

"Well this certainly will turn out to be interesting…let's head out".

Unlike Kisame, Itachi knew exactly who the help was. With Jiraiya keeping watch on Iwa and some of the minor villages on the west, Naruto had been hiding out in Yu no Kuni. For the life of him he could not understand how he always found himself in trouble yet at the same time something so unexpected would transpire that he would get out of it relatively unscathed.

In this case, Deidara and Sasori being delayed by a sandstorm. Yes, sandstorms happened rather frequently over there and it was hard even for the best shinobi to travel through them but it was the timing of it. The delay of two days added to the time required to travel across the mainland meant that rather than four S-ranked nukenin after them it'd be two. True - the odds were still heavily against them considering he and Kisame both were terrible matchups for both jinchuriki but it was nothing compared to what they would have had to face with Sasori and Deidara on top of that. If not for the sandstorm they would have had four of them hunting the two of them down which almost assured their capture. He would have defected to avoid it, but he preferred to maintain his cover longer.

But now…he knew exactly what Naruto was planning. After teaming up with the Nibi jinchuriki to take down the zombie duo, they headed towards Takimi City where they began to travel across the Haran Bay to reach Kaminari no Kuni. While slow, it was very difficult to track an individual travelling by sea. Kiri ninja were some of the best but even they had trouble and this was especially true for the turbulent waters of Haran Bay. Though it's main disadvantage was that you could get cornered very easily. The wide-open seas offered minimal terrain advantage to most shinobi and made it difficult to flee.

To brazenly take a long route with minimal scope for escape considering direct combat against the two of them was a poor option…Itachi had to admit he was impressed. Despite ninja priding themselves for their bravery and subtlety, they tended to fall into patterns of what was considered the 'right' approach. For most this would be to head towards one of their respective villages and gain strength in numbers. Not that it was a poor strategy just that this kind of approach is used so often it's very easy to anticipate. It took more than a creative mind to think outside the box, it took a lot of guts considering that these types of plans could just as easily blow up in your face.

Kisame was an excellent shinobi but Itachi knew him well enough to pull the wool over him. Again, he couldn't help but be amused by the fact that he was a spy for Konoha assigned to go after their jinchuriki. Uzumaki Naruto was more than a little lucky by his estimates.

* * *

**Ship over Haran Sea:**

Naruto glanced at Yugito who was barely suppressing herself from bursting out laughing, "It's not that funny ok" he told her making his annoyance clear.

"I'm sorry sweetie but ghosts?"

Naruto looked quite offended, "Hey it's a perfectly valid fear. All kind of supernatural stuff happen around us. I mean it's not like we have these masses of chakra shaped like animals inside us"

"Uh…hate to break it to you, but that's is probably the silliest fear I've heard of"

"Excuse me? We can fight other ninjas with our fists and jutsu – how do we fight a ghost?"

"I don't know…how do you fight something non-existent?" she asked sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes, "I hope you run into a ghost one day and I'm there to say I told you so"

She laughed lightly, "Sure, sure and I'll make sure to warm your milk"

He narrowed his eyes, "Coming from the girl who's scared of drowning"

"See, that's a valid fear. It can actually happen"

"We both can walk on water! Plus, there's something called swimming"

"Once you're under you can't walk on water and if you're tired you can't swim"

His eye twitched, "You have an answer for everything don't you?"

"Yup" she popped the P and stuck her tongue at him causing him to shake his head. Banter and games helped pass the time since it seemed to be moving through tar. They'd opted to travel by sea since it made them very difficult to track and would buy time for her to heal in case they were ambushed.

She was a generally patient individual, but sea travel always grated on her nerves. Despite the Nibi not being an actual cat, she had ended up having something of an aversion towards large bodies of water. She could walk on top of it but she wasn't the greatest swimmer and she generally hated getting drenched. To add to that they had to deal with the constant swaying of the ship from the waves, the stench given sailors weren't particularly hygienic made worse by the extra sensitive nose of a ninja but worst of all the lack of anything to do.

She liked to keep occupied because it kept her mind of things and let her feel like she was doing something worthwhile. It didn't matter what it was, she just didn't like the feeling that she was just sitting around. Bantering and playing card games with Naruto helped the time fly, but she was really glad he didn't make it too awkward after they'd slept together. That would have killed her on top of everything she found insufferable about sea travel.

It was a peculiar situation for her to say the least but not entirely unwelcome. Breaking away from the dreary routine that was her life was very refreshing. Missions were dangerous and stressful but part of what made them so tedious was the fact that she felt they were pointless and there was no reward for working so hard.

Getting away and meeting someone in a very similar point in their life had helped her gain some perspective on her own. She was miserable but she hadn't exactly done much to change that situation. Instead of standing up to the Raikage she'd just accepted his orders because she felt it would be more effort than it was worth. But she was missing out on so much in her life because of her career, she wanted to learn about so many things.; how to cook different dishes, learn more songs to play on her shamisen, maybe study quantum physics.

She was a ninja, but she wanted to be more than just that. She'd begun to give up on that and it killed her on the inside. Made her jaded, somewhat distant but most of all caused a crushing emptiness…

Right now her duty as a ninja meant she had to return right away without delay of any sort, but…she absolutely wanted Naruto to come to Genbu island to meet Bee-sensei. He was frustrated beyond belief and one of his lifelong wishes had been to travel the world to meet others like him. If he couldn't travel, then she thought the least she could do was bring something back for him. She tried to get little mementos from her missions for him when she got the chance but this'd be a surprise and a half for him.

For that she was somewhat glad that Naruto was a pretty straightforward and honest guy. By his own admission, it made non-combat situations rather hard for him, but it was refreshing nonetheless not having to deal with attempts at manipulation or ulterior motives.

Plus, strategically it made a lot of sense to travel by sea. It'd buy time for her to heal in case they had to run or fight. She was far from helpless but they both agreed it was best not to risk it when both weren't at a hundred percent.

At least that was the excuse she'd give the Raikage when she returned. It was a major reason but not the only one.

Suddenly the boat began to rock wildly causing her to groan, "We're sailing right into a storm…come on we better get up and check the situation"

They snuck up to the deck and hid on the mast, "It's blowing south-west" Naruto spoke as he checked his compass, "They're planning on turning around. We'll be sitting ducks out there"

"It's a tropical storm. They can go on for several days…if we turn back now we'll be boxing ourselves in Yu no Kuni. Let's try to get as much distance before the worst of it hits and then find a shelter"

"Can't we make a run for Kaminari no Kuni by sea?"

She shook her head, "It'll take too long, we'll be caught right in the middle of it. Water walking on the ocean is draining enough"

"…lead the way"

* * *

Water walking was a lot harder than people realized. Having to make constant adjustments to one's chakra took a lot of focus and it could be draining. Running across the ocean was significantly harder due to waves and with a storm rapidly approaching it was proving to be rather difficult for the two of them. They'd been running for close to two hours - the waves that were about as high as their shins had risen to be almost as tall as them. Having to constantly leap and adjust themselves had slowed them down by quite a bit. Naruto had made a barrier out of wind on front of them to block the rain and keep their vision unobstructed. The last thing they needed right now was to run straight into a wave and go under.

A strong gust cut through the barrier forcing them to stop for a momentarily, not having much time they leapt over an oncoming wave.

"We…need to find somewhere to…hole out…" Naruto spoke while panting.

"Damn this was a bad idea…" she admitted, "There are nothing but uninhabited islands around this area and even if we do find somewhere we can't be outside"

"We were planning on going to Uzushiogakure anyways. I can propel us there on a raft"

"Do you have one?"

"I can make one. Here!" he tossed her a log and a bit of rope before crossing his fingers to produce ten clones. They got to work quickly as Yugito made note to ask about why he had these specific items but it could wait. With the waves splashing around making it hard to get decent footing and having to jump ever so often it was maddeningly hard to make the raft. A jerk here and jump there with water splashing all around had each of them be struck several times. Given all that she was damned proud they'd made a near perfect raft in under five minutes.

"I'm going to do it now. Ready?"

She nodded as she stuck her feet firmly and held onto a small handle they had made, "Go for it!"

"Hang on. This is going to get bumpy" he warned as he performed several hand-signs. It never ceased to amaze her just how much stamina he had and she was a jinchuriki herself.

She was generally very good with distances and time but she had lost complete track since she was trying not to fall off. She'd say they spent close to ten minutes and had covered a lot of distance given how the storm was easing up now. He began to slow down his technique and yelled out, "We're getting close to the eddies! I'm going to try and shoot over them!"

"The raft won't hold!" she yelled back.

He waved it off, "Nah it'll be fi-" he didn't get to finish as the very distinctive sound of wood shattering and the whistle of wind flying by his ear was heard. He almost fell over when he landed because of the sheer speed of the water travelling underneath and he knew for a fact that he would've drowned Kyuubi jinchuriki or not if he had fallen.

"Sorry…" he muttered sheepishly to Yugito who steadied him as he noted another cat-like feature being perfect balance.

"Forget that…look" she pointed as their attention shifted towards their right, "Incredible…"

The water's surface dipped at least a hundred meters with nothing but white mist and foam sporadically covering the surface. Violet water swished around neatly but powerfully to the chasm giving off a force they could feel just trying to stand on top of it. Thankfully both had enough practice with water walking to be able to skate across the surface to counter the torrents otherwise they would have been sucked in.

"…don't get to see things like this often" Naruto muttered as he shielded his eyes from a powerful gust, "We better get moving, it's headed this way"

"Right…" but paused noting his expression, "Are you upset the raft broke?"

"…I kind off got attached. I called her Uku-chan" he admitted with a light flush.

"You're one of a kind you know that Naruto?" she patted him awkwardly. He was also a bit of a drama queen.

* * *

The ruins of Uzu were infinitely worse than she'd imagined. She knew that shinobi killed a lot and generally didn't have many principles or morals but there were lines. Leaving corpses to rot for so many decades was not acceptable. They were nothing but skeletons left behind, strewn all over and faded blood marks. The atmosphere was almost suffocating reflective of the horrid tragedy that had occurred.

The barriers shimmered keeping the forces of the nature out they didn't really have to that to worry about that but Naruto did spend several hours collecting the bones, cleaning the remnant blood and just sorting the place out so it just looked like an old run down town instead of a battlefield. She had wanted to help but part of her knew he had to do it himself because it was the home of his ancestors. She could tell it upset him more than he let on.

But she was more concerned with the maddening feeling that somebody else was there and the fear she felt in the put of her stomach. Almost as though a set of eyes were set on the back of her head. Yeah it was important to temper paranoia but there was a old saying that it wasn't paranoia if they were really out to get out, which sadly was always the case in their world. She kept her eyes peels, her senses sharp but nothing apart from the presence that sent a chill up her spine. That terrified her because she'd never gotten this kind of feeling from any human. Sure she got nervous at times against a strong opponent but not what felt like almost irrational – no rather a more primal instinct of fear. There was something dangerous she could subconsciously feel, and she'd learned a long time ago it's better to trust your gut.

When she looked back on this day several years in the future she'd thank her stars that she did. She stuck around Naruto as much as possible but seeing how jumpy he was didn't make her feel any better about what was going on.

He piled up all the remains in a pile before pulling out a massive cannister of salt, "What's that for?" she asked.

"Salt is supposed to be a symbol of purity…salting and burning remains is supposed to help them pass on"

Normally she'd have scoffed at such a claim, but the chilly presence all around told her otherwise, "Please tell me you're joking…please tell me there aren't actual spirits here…"

"Whenever a violent death occurs it creates an imbalance of sorts. Children, civilians – everyone was cut down without discretion and the place was left to rot. They've been unsettled and angry…I know you don't believe too much in the supernatural but I know you can feel something off"

Her mouth felt oddly dry, "I did…"

"Mind lighting them?"

She blinked before shaking her head, "Yeah, sure…"

They watched in silence as the bones were burned. While the flames produced their own heat, the icy feeling in her spine was beginning to lift as well. She had never really bought into the supernatural because honestly it scared her. When she was younger and first learned about having a bijuu within her, she had tried to find out exactly what they were. But the folk tales and legends all spoke of malicious creatures who were out for human blood which had been rather traumatizing for a young child and she'd snapped shut ever accepting it. But now…

She was confident she wasn't going to sleep for a long, long time.

* * *

**Feb 13th:**

**Uzu no Kuni:**

This had to be the craziest week of Yugito's life by far. She was attacked by two S-rank nukenin, teamed up with a fellow jinchuriki who she proceeded to sleep with, hunkered down on a ship for several days, ran straight into a storm, almost got beat up by a raft, faced pretty solid proof that the supernatural existed and was now learning fuinjutsu which she'd given up on when she was nine.

She had to question Naruto's sanity since according to him this was all rather routine for him. Apparently no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't stay out of trouble and watching him accidentally hook and reel a Great White, which weighed at least half a ton on the smaller side, only to get into a fist fight with…sharks weren't even supposed to be around during storms!

_Elsewhere Kisame got the sudden urge to beat the snot out of the Kyuubi jichuriki for some reason._

It was overall a pleasant distraction from having to contemplate the implications of there being an afterlife. She generally hated clinginess, but she really did need a breathing body nearby to make sure she hadn't turned into a spirit herself. Thinking about it, it was probably the nerves and pent up frustration from her life that was finding an outlet, but it didn't make it any less discomforting. The fact that Naruto seemed to need the same thing helped her rationalize the whole thing as being for his sake and avoid bruising her ego.

She had found herself getting relaxed as the week wore on. It had been ages since she didn't have to be on her toes and looking over her shoulder. Ages since she could act like a person her age instead of a ninja. The cherry on top was having pleasant company. She was a professional so she didn't exactly befriend clients and she was rater alienated from most of her peers. Be it sparring, card games or just talking, there was something to keep her occupied most of the time instead of sitting around on her hands and letting her imagination run wild.

Ninjas really did need to learn how to socialize better. That's why while Konoha's whole friendship and camaraderie motto may seem like being soft to the outside world, it probably did wonders for their shinobi's general mental health. Comrades were probably more akin to friends and confidantes than competitors and replacements. And she had proof that it worked since Konoha's defection rate was incredibly slim. Now this could be explained by the fact that they dealt with their nukenin very swiftly, having only three at A-rank or above, with two of them being infamous S-rankers, but it could also mean that they found far less reason to defect.

She was broken from her thoughts when she noticed her partner moving about, "Fish on a stick today. Hope you're hungry" Naruto spoke as he roasted the shark meat from the shark got into a scuff with earlier. It's head was set into a disturbing smile facing the campsite…then again it was entirely possible that Konoha's therapists were sleeping on the job. He was a little to carefree for her liking.

"Sharkfin soup is pretty great but actual shark meat is really salty"

"You've had shark before?"

"Sometimes their carcasses wash up on shore and if you've got to eat, you've got to eat" she shrugged, "They taste like ammonia if you don't marinate them. Put something acidic like lemon juice or vinegar"

"I've got apple cider vinegar. Does that work?"

"Lemons would be better but sure"

"So…you're pretty good at cooking huh?"

"I'm average. I eat most of my meals outside. What about you?"

"I really tried but something always goes wrong. My mom was an amazing cook so I wanted to at least learn. I can proudly say I can cook a piece of chicken now"

"It's harder than people think especially out in the field. Ration bars aren't all that bad but their texture is like cardboard"

"Not that – they taste like cardboard! They're so bland! I had to carry a lot of cup ramen to survive though Kakashi-sensei always gave me a hard time for it"

"To be fair, that's not exactly the best thing to carry along on a mission…"

"It's cheap, quick to make, filling and actually has a taste"

"You've got a point. I wish there was instant tekkadon…but what really gets me are these stupid low fat milks people make"

"Low…fat…milk? What are these words you're putting together?" he asked dramatically.

"That's not even the worst part. To make up for the lost favor, they basically dump so much sugar in it that you want to throw up. It's so sweet it's actually bitter…little kids love it but I can't stand it. I'll take good old whole milk thank you"

"It can't be that bad can it?"

She stared right into his eyes, "Naruto…it was _that _bad"

"…well I'll make up for it by making this shark as amazing as I can. How does chili bean paste on top sound?"

She wrinkled her nose, "I hate spicy stuff"

"…we're going to have a real problem here Yugito"

"Of course you'd love spicy stuff"

"And you love bland stuff like an old lady. Come on live a little"

"No thanks. I don't need my tongue blowing off"

"I'm not even using the spicy one. Just a thin coat"

"The thing is burning my nose from here, don't try to bluff your way out of it"

He tried to glare at her but he couldn't help but smile challengingly, "I'll get you one of these days. I was the prank master of Konoha after all"

"Bring. It. On" she responded with a smirk of her own.

It may have been a crazy week but it certainly was one of the best ones too.

* * *

**Feb 14th:**

**Few miles away from Uzu:**

If you were looking for trouble look for Uzumaki Naruto, if you're looking for Uzumaki Naruto look for trouble. It was disturbing how well that fit.

Naruto's greatest trait was just how endearing he was. No matter how distant they were he managed to worm his way into their heart. Good thing too because he'd need to be close to people to stop them from strangling him for all the mayhem he caused.

He knew it wasn't deliberate on his part, but he didn't exactly do much to step away from it either. He didn't blame him either, at that age most people were thrill seekers and especially as a relatively unexperienced but powerful ninja you did want to test yourself. It was frustrating at times because his father had been the exception to that, always taking calculative risks. It took him a long time to temper his expectations since they had led very different lives and Naruto for all his capabilities still needed a lot of guidance. Mostly since Naruto hadn't had anybody care for him growing up so he really didn't have any concept of self-preservation. Years of neglect and loneliness didn't wash away so quickly which left his student to be very reckless and throwing himself into dangerous situations without hesitation.

Dear god it made him lose several years of life each time something like this happened. Like the time he ended up taking out the yakuza when he decided to go gambling for shits and giggles. But the silver lining had to be that no matter how deep or stupid things he got into he'd always come out unscathed and he'd get something amazing out of it.

He knew Naruto could handle himself, he had grown immensely but couldn't he just go one week without starting something? Sometimes he swore that some particularly bored deity had conspired to make Naruto the center of the entire universe just to screw with everybody around him because by god how else could you explain the stuff he survived?

Kakashi had told him of the one time when he was five or six he turned his bed sheet into a cape thinking he was a superhero and he ended up hanging himself by trying to fly off the Hokage monument. It was only thanks to a stroke of freakish luck that he suffered only a strained neck and his inherent healing that kept him from being choked long enough for him to be rescued.

Then there was him surviving his first mission. The survival rate on C-turned A-rank mission for a fresh genin team on their first mission out of the village was so astronomically low that it was in effect zero, yet the entire team made it back without anything other than scratches and bruises. Yeah Kakashi was an amazing ninja but even then it was downright miraculous given the number of unaccountable variables that were in play especially with green and untested genin.

And to think that was the tip of the iceberg. He didn't agree with Kakashi's methods for teaching his genin team but he sure as hell did feel for him having Naruto on his team. The fact that he kept all three of them alive probably helped cover up most of his other faults as a sensei since at the end of the day that was the most important thing to keep them safe and alive.

But right now, the familiar eddies of Uzu no Kuni brought back bitter memories. Kushina had been so devastated hearing the faith of her clan. She didn't even have the time to grieve properly because tensions remained as high as ever and the Third Shinobi War followed quite quickly after and then she had gotten pregnant. She talked often about how she was going to take Naruto with her to visit their ancestral land when he was older.

But nobody else had been able to set foot on the land. Violent deaths created a sort of imbalance in the world and spirits often became agitated and incapable of moving on because of them. To make things worse their corpses had been left to rot on the island, something that tied their souls to the mortal realm. Unable to pass they quickly grew agitated before turning violent themselves. He'd stepped foot on the island several times in an attempt to explore the ruins but every time he did he was washed over with a chilly feeling that always made him want to bolt. True they were no bijuu, but that many pissed off spirits would undoubtedly be able to kill him.

As for Naruto…he knew he was terrified of them but he'd theorized that they'd be able to sense he was an Uzumaki. Ghosts were believed to still be connected to the person they were once, so he hoped sincerely that it would work. Rationally he knew the chances were slim considering how little they knew of what happened beyond the grave, but his luck just worked that way.

It took him sometime to bypass the barrier. It amazed him that after so many decades that a barrier this powerful was still functional. He stepped onto the island cautiously…no chilly presence, no feeling like he was going to be attacked – all there was the sticky humidity that the lands were known for. He saw two figures and heaved a sigh of relief.

He walked over to the duo taking note of how much effort Naruto had put into making the place look neat. It did tick him off considering how much of a slob he could be sometimes. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd scolded him for turning the hotel room into a pigsty. It wasn't that he couldn't be organized or meticulous, it was that he picked and chose when he wanted to.

"You're going to be the death of me one day brat"

Naruto turned around, "Thought I sensed you. Sensei this is Nii Yugito. Yugito this is Jiraiya of the Sannin. Don't be fooled by his reputation, he's just a dirty old pervert"

"How many times do I have to tell you brat? I'm no mere pervert – I'm a super pervert!" he declared dramatically.

"Not to mention disappointing" she deadpanned causing him to faceplant.

"I'm going to have to borrow my student for a minute young lady. We'll be right" he spoke as he ushered Naruto away.

When they were just out of ear shot he stopped and turned to his student, "I passed by the site where the battle happened. You figured out a way to activate Sage Mode quickly didn't you?"

He rubbed the back of his head, "As a last resort maybe. Kyuubi's chakra collects nature energy way faster than I do but the focus required almost makes me nauseous"

"Like you said you can use it as a last resort…"

"If you're going to yell at me for being stupid and reckless, can we just get it over with?"

"To an extent you were, but you took a calculated risk. You didn't run in blindly to fight them head on. You planned everything out and got away with a few bruises and scrapes. I think that's a pretty big win"

Naruto blinked a few times as if not comprehending his words.

Jiraiya chuckled and ruffled his hair, "You did a good job kid. You took out two threats with minimal risk. Stop doubting yourself so much"

He bit back a laugh at the typical odd expression he made whenever he was praised. One where he was caught between gushing and trying to brush it off, "Whatever…"

"Though I have to say off all the things I'm proudest off-"

"Don't say it…" he groaned.

"You totally nailed that hottie! Finally coming into your own as my apprentice!" Jiraiya beamed like a proud father.

His eye twitched, "I manage to fight on even ground with S-rank shinobi, and that's what you're proudest of?"

"That was practically assured with girls it's a whole other thing. Your record speaks for itself doesn't it?"

"I'm not that bad at flirting ok?! It was just those few times!" he yelled annoyed.

"Worry not young one. I will teach you the ways to woo a maiden's heart. I am not only your master for ninjutsu but for life!"

He scoffed, "I'll do fine on my own. Besides it's about quality not quantity, not that you'd know about that"

"What was that?!"

"You heard me! Stupid old pervert!"

They glared at each other for several seconds before breaking out into laughter, "Ah it's good to see you again kid"

"No kidding…Yugito asked me to come with her to meet the Hachibi jinchuriki"

"You realize you can't just waltz into another country right?

"I know which is why thankfully he lives on a place called Genbu Island which is off to the coast of Kaminari no Kuni"

"Ah I've heard of it. It is supposed to be a moving island that randomly appears and disappears around the country's coasts. Rumor has it that either it's the power of a powerful summon or some kind of space-time jutsu, though I've got to lean with the former"

"I was thinking the same thing…I really want to go. He's apparently got control of his bijuu and...with Yugito we can stay under the radar"

Jiraiya rubbed his forehead slightly, "I wasn't worried about that. Kakuzu may have kept under the radar but he had a major presence in most of the yakuza around the world on top of the intelligence and money laundering networks he's got running. People are going to start asking questions"

"…right, about that. People probably wouldn't blink twice if you turned in the bounty right?"

Jiraiya knew that even a year ago that Naruto wouldn't have even considered taking that option and probably would have fought tooth and nail to gain some notoriety from having scored a kill like that. That need to be externally validated was probably his biggest pitfall because it was something that would have been exploited mercilessly. This was a sign that he'd grown and more importantly he'd found some belief in himself and his capabilities, something he couldn't be more proud of.

He still had a long way to go but he was firmly headed down the right path. Honestly he couldn't think of a better note to end the whole training trip.

"Not a bad idea kid…but will she be ok with it?"

"We actually did talk about it and thankfully she isn't too hung up on having her Bingo book ranking going higher at the moment"

"Smart move. S-rank sounds nice and all but when you have people lining up to take a shot at you…"

"Just out of pride?"

"A small part but mostly it's the big bump on the bounty, speaking off which do you even know how much this guy's bounty is?" he asked to which Naruto shook his head. He passed him a very worn out book, clearly more than half a century old, "This was one of the first Bingo books that was published in Konoha. I happened to have a copy check out page 36"

He flipped to it and tilted his head, "That's it? It's a little below the average A-ranker"

"That was back then…a ryo back then is equivalent to about fifty ryo now…"

He bit back a laugh seeing him do the math before his eyes bugged out, "No way…"

"The best part is you two just gave it all up!" he declared smugly, "Thanks for helping me get loaded kid!"

Warning bells went off when he grinned instead, "Don't forget I'm your sole inheritor and I have tons of things I could tell baa-chan. Like what happened my fourteenth birthday"

"…you two can have the bounty and twenty percent of anything else I find"

"Throw in two free copies of ever new release and you have a deal"

"You used to be such a cute and innocent kid" he grumbled under his breath, "You should probably head out as soon as possible. I'll let you know where to meet up once I'm done settling this business. Keep out of sight and for the love of god please don't start any fights or we'll have the Fourth Shinobi World War on our hands"

"Don't you want to check out any of the seals first?"

"Everything important is already withing Konoha and the barrier there has the same base matrix as here. An Uzumaki designed it after all"

"If you say so" he shrugged trying to suppress his excitement. It wasn't going to be long now.

He was going home.

**Yeah a pretty long hiatus. Hope everybody's doing well. I'm going to be trying to get back to working on this and may start a new series called 'Perspective'. No promises though, real life is the priority.**

**Peace!**


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